Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on February 19 accused Turkey's top business association, the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association, or Tusiad, of meddling in politics and undermining his government with a “provocation”.

Erdogan hit out at Tusiad following the February 13 attack launched on his administration at the group’s annual general assembly. The organisation’s leaders took aim at the state of the economy and the erosion of the rule of law and democracy. Subsequently, an investigation was opened by Istanbul’s chief prosecutor into Tusiad high advisory council president Omer Aras, who is also chairman of Qatari QNB's Turkish banking unit. On February 19, it was announced that Tusiad chairman Orhan Turan was also under investigation.

Turan’s remarks at the assembly were cited by the Istanbul's prosecutors' office as "misleading and disruptive to public order." Both Aras and Turan are subject to allegations of "attempting to influence a fair trial" and "publicly spreading misleading information". 

Speaking to his ruling AKP party in parliament, Erdogan said Tusiad had "overstepped". He dismissed the group as a remnant of the past that under previous administrations once thrived on economic privilege and political influence, Reuters reported.

"Tusiad’s mentality is a symbol of weak governments in Turkey's past [and it is] full of businessmen who have grown under the shadow of unfair profits and privileges at the expense of the nation," Erdogan added.

He continued: "They once dictated politics through newspaper headlines. We put an end to that. We did not recognise any power above the will of the people."

Erdogan’s remarks on businessmen who have exploited unfair profits and privileges to the nation’s detriment will certainly not impress some critics—bne IntelliNews has regularly reported on how Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the former leader of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), dubs the Erdogan-affiliated leading group of Turkish contractors the “Gang of five”. There are actually more than five such contractors but Kilicdaroglu’s term has become a common idiom in Turkey for all the businessmen thought to be part of the group.

Bloomberg reported that Tusiad said after the Aras probe was announced that economic development could only flourish if there’s a state of law and that criticism should be regarded as “richness” in a culture of debate.

Turkish authorities have lately intensified a crackdown on opposition politicians and others seen as critical of the government. Investigations have been opened into heads of local government, journalists and figures including Istanbul’s opposition Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who is widely expected to challenge Erdogan for the presidency in the next elections. This week, Imamoglu challenged Erdogan to give him the “honest fight” that he says Turkey wants to see.

The members of Tusiad account for 85% of Turkey's foreign trade and 80% of its corporate tax revenue.