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 The general manager of state-owned Halkbank was also named as one
of the people charged under the action that Erdogan has called a
"dirty operation" aimed at undermining his rule.
Erdogan raised the stakes in the crisis on Saturday by saying some
unnamed foreign ambassadors in the country had been involved in
"provocative actions". Some pro-government newspaper had accused the
U.S. ambassador of encouraging the move against Halkbank — a charge
denied by the embassy.
The investigation, which has roiled markets, is widely seen as a
symptom of a power struggle with a U.S.-based cleric who wields
influence in police and judiciary. Dozens of police chiefs have been
removed from their posts since the detentions began.
That cleric, Fethullah Gulen, condemned the police purge, invoking
God's punishment on those responsible.
"Those who don't see the thief but go after those trying to catch
the thief, who don't see the murder but try to defame others by
accusing innocent people — let God bring fire to their houses, ruin
their homes, break their unities," Gulen said in a recording
uploaded to one of his websites on Friday.
Erdogan has refrained from naming Gulen as the hand behind the
investigation. But Gulen's Hizmet (or Service) movement has been
increasingly at odds with Erdogan in recent months.
"PROVOCATIVE ACTS"
A number of Turkish newspapers close to the government on Saturday
accused the U.S. Embassy for encouraging the move against Halkbank,
saying the United States wanted the bank to stop its dealings with
Iran. "Get out of this country," read Yeni Safak daily's headline, with a
photograph of U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardone.
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Erdogan picked up on the allegation in a speech in the Northern city
of Samsun on Saturday, saying: "These recent days, very strangely,
ambassadors get involved in some provocative acts. I am calling on
them from here: 'Do your job. If you leave your area of duty, this
could extend into our government's area of jurisdiction. We do not
have to keep you in our country.'"
The U.S. Embassy in Turkey denied any role in the investigation.
"All allegations in news stories are downright lies and slander," it
said in a statement.
Halkbank general manager, Suleyman Aslan, was formally arrested and
charged alongside Baris Guler, the son of the interior minister, and
Kaan Caglayan, the son of the economy minister, CNN Turk and others
reported.
A total of 24 people have now been formally arrested and are
awaiting trial on corruption allegations.
A court on Saturday ordered the release of 33 others, including the
mayor of Istanbul's Fatih district, Mustafa Demir, and the son of
Turkey's environment minister, the media reported.
(Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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