Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday he was ready to withdraw a contentious bill aimed at curbing the powers of the judiciary as he battled to contain the worst crisis of his 11 years in office.
Erdogan, who once held an almost unassailable grip on power, has been battling on several fronts since police launched a series of anti-graft raids in December targeting members of his inner circle.
His Islamic-rooted government has since sought to limit the powers of the judiciary and has sacked hundreds of police and prosecutors involved in the investigation, which Erdogan claims is a plot by an erstwhile ally to destabilise him ahead of key elections in March.
The turmoil has sent Turkish financial markets plunging, with the local currency briefly hitting a record low of three lira to the euro on Tuesday.
Erdogan backtracked Tuesday in the row over the judiciary, saying the government was ready to withdraw proposed legislation curbing the power of judges — on certain conditions.
"If the opposition agrees to constitutional changes governing this issue (the judiciary), we will freeze the proposal and if necessary will stop it from reaching the full parliament," he told his party in parliament.
'Black stain on Turkey's democratic history'
It was not immediately clear what the constitutional amendments would contain but parliament failed last year in its efforts to draw up a new charter to replace a constitution drafted by post-coup military leaders in 1980.
Erdogan's comments came a day after President Abdullah Gul intervened personally to try to defuse the crisis over the bill, holding talks with several political leaders including Erdogan.
The legislation has been regarded by critics as a bid to head off the widening corruption probe that has seen the detention of dozens of people including business leaders, civil servants and the sons of cabinet ministers since December.
Erdogan accuses supporters of exiled Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen — who hold key posts in the police and judiciary — of deliberately acting as a "state within a state" to topple the government.
On Tuesday, he described the December anti-graft operation as a "black stain on Turkey's democratic and legal history" and an "act of treachery".
And he went further, accusing the Gulen movement of also trying to undermine the Turkish secret service, the National Intelligence Organisation (MIT).
His comments appeared to be linked to the raid against the IHH, which claims it has become victim to the feud between Erdogan and the so-called Gulenists.
The IHH said one of its staff was arrested in the raid in the southern town of Kilis by local counter-terrorism police units who also tried to confiscate documents and computers.
"This smear campaign is backed by people inside and outside Turkey," IHH secretary general Yasar Kutluay told AFP, saying the raid was clearly linked to the corruption scandal.
"It is not only about IHH. They want to brand Turkey as a country which supports terrorism and want it to be tried before international courts," he said.
Turkish media reported on January 1 that security forces had stopped — on the orders of a local prosecutor — a truck loaded with arms and ammunition on the Syrian border and arrested three people.
The drivers claimed they were carrying aid on behalf of IHH, and media reports at the time said an MIT vehicle was part of the convoy.
The Turkish government has repeatedly denied it is involved in sending weapons to rebels fighting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
However, in December, local media — quoting UN and government documents — reported that Turkey had shipped 47 tonnes of arms to the rebels since June last year.
The IHH organised a flotilla of ships carrying aid to Gaza that was raided by Israeli commandos in 2010.
Nine Turkish activists were killed in the Israeli raid, sending relations with Turkey, once its closest Muslim ally, to an all-time low.
The IHH also claimed Tuesday that the raid was linked to comments by Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman this month describing the IHH as a threat to the interests of the Jewish state.
The Gulen movement, whose feud with Erdogan became public after the government unveiled plans to close its private school network in Turkey, is believed to back improved ties with Israel.
