Turkish court deals blow to Erdogan, overturns law that shut rival's schools

Turkey's top court has struck down legislation that would have shut thousands of private schools, dealing a blow to President Tayyip Erdogan's efforts to curb the influence of a cleric he has accused of covertly seeking to topple him. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu questioned the timing of the decision, which came late on Monday, as he engages in talks with opposition party leaders to form a coalition government after the election on 7 June.

Many of the schools are run by followers of US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, providing his Hizmet (Service) network with revenues and new recruits. The law was ushered through by Erdogan in 2014. Erdogan accuses Gulen, whose followers wield influence in the police and judiciary, of concocting a corruption scandal in December 2013 in a bid to bring down his government.

Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania and presides over a worldwide network of schools and businesses, denies plotting against the state. Erdogan has made purging state institutions of "Gulenist" influence a priority, removing or reassigning thousands of prosecutors and police officers deemed loyal to the cleric.

It is unclear how strongly his battle against what he variously calls a terrorist group or a "parallel state" can now be pursued, after the ruling AK Party he founded lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in the election.  (Reuters)

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