Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan this week found himself in the midst of an unfolding scandal resulting from the release on the Internet of recordings, purportedly involving Erdogan and his son Bilal discussing the movement of large amounts of illegally acquired cash. Erdogan, who has been in power for more than a decade, is currently under investigation in connection with the improper allocation of government contracts and illegally trading gold with Iran. Local elections are just a few months away.

The opposition party, known as the Republican People's Party, has been using the recordings to directly challenge the continuing legitimacy and viability of the Erdogan government, potentially undermining democracy in Turkey. Meanwhile, Erdogan and members of his team have been denying the authenticity of the recordings and threatening legal action against those responsible for disseminating them on YouTube.

Underlying this scandal are allegations of an escalating power struggle between Erdogan and senior religious leader Fethullah Gulen, a former ally who currently resides in the United States. Gulen, who leads an Islamic movement with a strong presence in the police forces and was a crucial component of Erdogan's early success in office, is thought to be actively undermining Erdogan's leadership in the country.

Allegations of corruption have plagued Erdogan and his government for some time, and calls for his resignation have become louder and louder. When an alleged multimillion-dollar government fraud scheme involving more than 50 well-placed officials, businessmen and family members in Istanbul and Ankara was uncovered recently, he fired or demoted 29 police chiefs in response. It remains to be seen whether this swiftly executed act of revenge will keep Erdogan's opponents in check.

Critics accuse him of authoritarianism, and his recent confrontational stance against Gulen has potentially weakened Erdogan. The cooperation that both sides showed when Erdogan first came to power seems today to be just a distant memory. Instead, it has been replaced by a virtual standoff, with the fate of Turkey hanging in the balance.

Originally, Erdogan and Gulen were able to make common cause against the secular powers that had governed their country almost without interruption since Kemal Ataturk first created modern Turkey out of the remains of the Ottoman Empire. They both expressed a desire to clean up Ankara and put the country on a path that eliminated corruption and established a transparent administration. Gulen's supporters are moderate Muslims who have become disenchanted with Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian tendencies and the cozy relationships between government officials and business tycoons, which are frequently greased by bribes and kickbacks. Gulen himself has indirectly referred to Erdogan as a "pharaoh."

Meanwhile, Erdogan has ordered the closure of Gulen's schools, thereby seeking to deny the Gulen movement both new members and much-needed revenue. In response to the recent arrests, Erdogan has spoken publicly of a growing conspiracy against Turkey to undermine its institutions.

Turkey has strategic importance for the West, both in the region and across the Muslim world. Its democratic traditions establish a clear precedent for expanding popular participation in government across the Middle East and North Africa. It is worth remembering that Turkey has been a supportive member of NATO for decades and a perennial applicant for full membership in the European Union. Initially, the Erdogan/Gulen coalition could even be seen as a way for politicized Islam to be included in a modern democracy more in the footsteps of the Christian democratic parties across Europe than in the model that was being followed by the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

On the other hand, Turkey has the potential to distort and destabilize the countries around it. For example, it was state-owned Halkbank that enabled Iran to avoid Western sanctions for months because of a dubious oil payment scheme it established. Shunned by Brussels, which has oscillated between ambivalence and indifference when it comes to Turkish EU membership, the Turks have benefited from high growth rates and a relatively booming economy that has perhaps encouraged Erdogan to pursue his own idiosyncratic policies and priorities. Drifting away from a Western sphere of influence, Turkey has become more unpredictable and less receptive to Washington's suggestions.

In the beginning, Erdogan and Gulen could have been seen as a necessary pendulum swinging away from the secularism that was ensconced in the very foundations of modern Turkey and toward a more realistic accommodation of Muslim identity within a modern democracy. Unfortunately, Erdogan's perceived drift toward authoritarianism has put an end to that simplistic image.

The gloves have now come off. The release of these audio recordings demonstrates how far Erdogan's enemies are willing to go to wrest him from power. Turks will eventually need to decide what type of government they really want and whether their commitment to democracy trumps the political passions of the moment.

Timothy Spangler is a writer and commentator who divides his time between Los Angeles and London. His radio show, "The Bigger Picture with Timothy Spangler," airs every Sunday night from 10 p.m. to midnight Pacific time on KRLA AM 870. To find out more about Timothy Spangler and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.