Turkey: problems mount for PM Erdogan

The Turkish Army says it will not get involved in what it calls “the political debate”.

Turkey is continuing to wrestle with a major corruption scandal.

The military has a history of taking over, although its power has been curbed recently by the country’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In a set back for Mr Erdogan, the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors claimed a new law – forcing police to disclose investigations to their superiors – was unconstitutional.

The Council of State, an administrative court, has now blocked the regulation.

But speaking at Sakarya University near Istanbul, where he received an honourary doctorate, Erdogan was defiant:

“Let me be clear. If our nation tells us to leave, we’ll go. There’s no hesitation there. Because the people are the authority which we respect. But when the people are telling us to stay, we won’t listen to someone who is telling us to go.”

Meanwhile, demonstrators have made a return to the streets.

In Istanbul, it was a peaceful march, but the spirit of Taksim Square, the scene of much protest earlier this year, was invoked.