ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to expel foreign ambassadors on Saturday, blaming them for a vast corruption and bribery investigation mounting against people close to his government. Riot police, meanwhile, stood guard as hundreds protested against Erdogan's government.
Erdogan's accusations come after two government ministers' sons were arrested, along with several others including Suleyman Aslan, the chief executive of state-owned Halkbank.
In total, 24 people were jailed pending trial, accused of taking or facilitating bribes, the Dogan news agency reported. Turkish media report the investigation relates to illicit money transfers to Iran and large-scale bribery for construction projects.
Erdogan said the ''dirty operation'' was timed to harm his government before March local elections.
The elections are seen as a vote of confidence in his decadelong tenure, which has been shaken by summer protests over what critics call growing authoritarian rule. Erdogan is expected to run in August's presidential elections as he is barred from running for a fourth term as prime minister.
''Some ambassadors are engaged in provocative acts,'' Erdogan said Saturday. ''Stick to your duties. If you exceed your powers, this government will exert its authorities to the limit. We are not obliged to keep you in this country.''
Turkish media reports said police seized $4.5 million in cash stashed in shoe boxes from Aslan's home.
Although he didn't name the ambassadors, Erdogan has backed allegations in progovernment newspapers which accuse the United States and its ambassador of being behind the corruption inquiry that has ensnared close political allies, including Cabinet ministers and the mayor of an Istanbul district that is a stronghold of his Islamic-based Justice and Development Party.
The progovernment newspaper Yeni Safak wrote on Saturday: ''Get out of this country,'' a headline that was apparently directed at US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone.
The US Embassy denied the accusations as ''lies and slander.''
The progovernment newspapers have also accused Israel of being involved in fueling the investigation.
The accusations mirror government moves to deflect criticism by blaming foreign forces for the summer's protests, which were sparked by a harsh police crackdown on a small environmental sit-in.
Commentators in Turkey have accused the United States and Israel of being behind an attempt to pressure Halkbank, a Turkish financial institution.
The bank, whose chief executive was among those arrested in the investigation Saturday, has been a source of friction between Washington and Ankara over allegations that it was facilitating trade with Iran at a time that the West has been trying to ramp up sanctions.