Turkish deputy PM says corruption probe aims to smear government

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By Gulsen Solaker and Humeyra Pamuk ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said on Wednesday an anti-corruption crackdown months before elections was part of a plan to tarnish the government, highlighting an apparent power struggle shaking the ruling elite. Scores of people, including three ministers' sons, prominent businessmen close to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and local government officials, were detained on Tuesday in the biggest corruption investigation since Erdogan swept to power in 2002. "Our opinion at the moment is that this is a planned operation, which has transformed into a psychological war, to tarnish our government," Arinc told a news conference, saying that a total of 52 people had been detained. He did not say who might be behind such an effort, but said his comments were not aimed at the movement of powerful U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whose followers are influential in the police and judiciary.




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