ISTANBUL: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan heckled the head of the country's bar association on Saturday, accusing him of rudeness for speaking critically of the government at a judicial ceremony before storming out of the hall.
Tensions between Erdogan and his political foes remain high after bitterly contested local elections in March that Erdogan's ruling AK Party won and amid expectations he will seek the presidency in an election in August.
Erdogan has had a difficult year that included the biggest anti-government protests in decades against his perceived authoritarianism and a corruption scandal that implicated family members and cabinet ministers.
His response, a sweeping shakeup of the police and judiciary, prompted accusations of political meddling. He says he is rooting out shadowy forces trying to undermine his rule.
Erdogan interrupted a speech in Ankara by Metin Feyzioglu, chairman of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations, saying his remarks were political and full of untruths.
Feyzioglu had called for a more independent judiciary and questioned the government's handling of the aftermath of a 2011 earthquake that killed more than 600 people in the southeastern province of Van."You are speaking falsehoods
How could there be such rudeness?" Erdogan shouted and stood up to gesticulate in anger at Feyzioglu, who was on stage at a podium and refused to stop speaking. The scene was broadcast by CNN Turk television.
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