Gulen crisis highlights divisions in Turkey
In the lead up to local polls this month, government accuses cleric’s movement of running parallel state within country.
Tensions between the previously allied Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen boiled over in December, when figures close to Erdogan were arrested on corruption allegations.
Earlier this month, Turkey finally approved a law closing schools seen as a source of income and influence for the cleric, who is accused by Erdogan of trying to topple him in response.
In February, voice recordings of Erdogan, purportedly warning his son to hide large sums of money from the police investigating the allegations of corruption involving Erdogan’s inner circle, started appearing on social media.
Following the leaks, the Turkish government accused Gulen of sowing dissent and running a parallel state with power in the police and the judiciary.
The crisis has highlighted deep divisions within the country in the lead up to local elections at the end of the month.
Al Jazeera’s Omar Al Saleh reports from Istanbul.