The disagreement between the government and the movement escalated into a skirmish, with then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accusing the Gülen Movement of trying to bring down the government by using their influence over the judiciary to cause a government corruption scandal (known as the 17-25 investigations due to the dates on which it occurred).[2] The government subsequently responded with large-scale reforms to the police and judiciary forces to purge Gülen's sympathisers from their positions.[3][4] The conflict has been referred to as a coup attempt by pro-AKP commentators and as a purge of judicial independence by critics.[5]