Turkish PM Calls Leaked Recordings Fake, 'Vile Attack'

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (file photo)

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has condemned leaked recordings of him and his son allegedly discussing how to hide large sums of money as fake and a "vile attack."

Erdogan comments to lawmakers from his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in parliament Tuesday came as the government tries to grapple with this latest fallout from a damaging corruption probe.

Opposition party leader Devlet Bahceli, the leader of Turkey's far-right Nationalist Action Party, called the recordings "mind-blowing" on February 25 and urged prosecutors and other judicial bodies to intervene.

Turkey's main opposition party, the Republican People's Party, held an emergency meeting late on February 24 and called on Erdogan to resign.

Erdogan insists that a corruption probe targeting people close to him is a conspiracy against his government before local elections in March and an August presidential election.

Based on reporting by AP and AFP