Tayyip Erdogan Turkey PM fights graft allegations amid more discontent from opposition and allies

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Three lawmakers quit Turkish ruling party over corruption scandal

AFP – Three lawmakers including a former minister resigned Friday from Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) amidst a high-level bribery and corruption probe ensnaring close government allies. The ruling party is being directed by the PM.

Hundreds of people, including many Turkish Americans and members of the Occupy Wall Street movement, protest in Zuccotti Park in solidarity with demonstrators in Istanbul who are trying to stop a popular park from being demolished to make way for a shopping center on June 1, 2013 in New York City.

The protesters chanted slogans against the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is a strong advocate of the move to redevelop Taksim Gezi Park. The controversy has struck a nerve with Turks who have witnessed more green space being given over to shopping centers and other private uses under the Erdogan government.