Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erodogan called Sunday on Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, a onetime ally who has become a bitter foe, to stop meddling in the country's politics.

"I was naive. I used my best endeavors to support him," Erdogan told party loyalists at an election rally, referring to Gulen, who lives in exile in the United States.

Turkey's parliament has passed a bill to close down thousands of private schools, many of which are run by an influential Muslim cleric embroiled in a bitter feud with the government.

The move is the latest blow struck in a rivalry between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his former ally Fethullah Gulen which has seen the Turkish government entangled in a graft scandal and shaken to its core.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday openly challenged his arch-rival, U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, to return home as their feud deepened with a second leaked recording linking the premier to a corruption scandal.

In his first direct appeal to Gulen, Erdogan said: "If you have not done anything wrong, do not stay in Pennsylvania. If your homeland is Turkey, come back to your homeland."

Turkey's President Abdullah Gul on Wednesday signed into law a contested bill tightening the government's grip on the judiciary as it grapples to contain the fallout from a major corruption probe.

The new law, which sparked fistfights among lawmakers debating it in parliament, will give the justice ministry greater control over the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), an independent body responsible for appointing members of the judiciary.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday condemned leaked recordings of him and his son allegedly discussing how to hide large sums of money as a "vile attack" by rivals, as calls mounted for his beleaguered government to resign.

"What was done is a vile... and a treacherous attack against the prime minister of the Republic of Turkey. It will not go unpunished," Erdogan told his ruling party lawmakers in parliament.

Turkish police have eavesdropped on thousands of people including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as well as cabinet ministers, the country's spy chief and journalists, local newspapers reported on Monday.

Associates of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen in the police and the judiciary have tapped the phones of Erdogan as well as politicians and businessmen for three years, pro-government dailies Yenisafak and Star claimed.

Turkey's parliament passed a law Friday abolishing specially appointed courts that have convicted hundreds of military officers for coup plotting.

The conciliatory move toward the military, proposed by the Islamic-rooted ruling party, comes as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is grappling with a high-level corruption scandal that has implicated his entourage and dragged down some of his ministers.

Turkey's government has submitted a bill to parliament to give the country's spy agency more sweeping powers, a parliamentary source said Thursday.

The bill aims to give the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) the authority to carry out missions and surveillance both in Turkey and abroad without the need for a court order.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday urged youngsters not to become "slaves to the Internet" as he handed out free tablet computers to students.

The premier also used the occasion to again defend his government's controversial push to tighten control of the Internet, a move that has drawn widespread criticism.

Turkey's parliament passed a bill Saturday tightening government control over the judiciary, with lawmakers violently scuffling over the contested reforms introduced amid a major graft scandal.

Fighting erupted overnight with fists flying in the air between ruling party and opposition lawmakers as the bill was debated in a marathon 20-hour sitting.