Turkey's foreign minister, whose government has long been at odds with Kurdish nationalists at home and abroad, drew cheers Tuesday when he opened a speech in Iraq using the Kurdish language.

"I am happy to be at the forum in Sulaimaniyah," Ahmet Davutoglu said in Kurdish to a gathering of academics and politicians at the American University of Iraq in the autonomous Kurdistan region's second city of Sulaimaniyah.

Turkey's president on Tuesday ordered a probe into wiretapping and the government's ability to fight corruption amid a widening graft scandal that has rocked Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's administration.

President Abdullah Gul ordered the top auditing body, the State Auditing Board, to investigate rules surrounding the wiretapping of communications to "assess their compliance with the law".

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.

Protesters took to the streets in the Turkish capital Saturday to protest against the corruption and bribery allegations roiling Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.

Close to 600 people, shouting "They are thieves" and "Government, resign!", gathered in Ankara's central Kizilay square, an Agence France Presse photographer reported.

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.

The United States on Thursday denounced what it said was the growing use of security forces by repressive regimes to crackdown on a worldwide groundswell of pro-democracy protests.

"The fundamental struggle for dignity, for decency in the treatment of human beings... is a driving force in all of human history," Secretary of State John Kerry said as he released his department's 2013 human rights report.

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."

Thousands of protesters took to the streets Wednesday in Turkey as the president signed a controversial bill tightening controls on the judiciary, deepening opposition resentment toward a government already grappling with a corruption scandal.

Police used tear gas to disperse protesters in the capital Ankara, while in Istanbul demonstrators gathered on central Taksim Square, the scene of protests that have dogged the Islamic-rooted government on and off for months.

With the Turkish government already facing protests over its clampdown on Internet sites and the media, new credit card restrictions are now adding shoppers and retailers to the list of angry citizens.

Turkey's banking regulator introduced new rules earlier this month to clamp down on the use of widely used credit card installment plans, in a bid to stem spending on imports and rein in the ballooning current account deficit.

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.