Erdogan damns the dark forces ON DECEMBER 17th Turkish police detained the sons of three cabinet ministers, a construction tycoon, a banker and a mayor from the ruling Justice and Development (AK) party in dawn raids in Istanbul and Ankara, as part of a corruption probe that saw 49 detentions. The news sent shock waves through the political establishment and financial markets. It is seen as an escalation in the power struggle between Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the AK prime minister, and Turkey’s most influential cleric, Fethullah Gulen, who runs media outlets, schools and charities from rural Pennsylvania.In his first comments after the arrests, Mr Erdogan struck a characteristically defiant note: “We will not bow to any threats. They can resort to whatever ugly methods and alliances they choose…the AK government will not allow this.” He pointed at “dark foreign forces” that he claimed had orchestrated anti-government protests in June. “Turkey is not a banana republic,” he roared.The row between the two men has been brewing for a while. Mr Erdogan has accused Mr Gulen’s followers of establishing “a parallel state” by infiltrating…
