Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Thursday the posting on YouTube of a recording of top officials discussing possible military operations in Syria constituted a declaration of war against Turkey.

Davutoglu, one of the officials involved in the conversation, did not name the target of his accusation. But Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, facing key local polls on Sunday, says he has been the target of an internet defamation campaign by a U.S.-based Islamic cleric who seeks to topple him and undermine Turkey.

The cleric, Fethullah Gulen, denies that accusation.

"A cyber attack has been carried out against the Turkish Republic, our state and our valued nation. This is a clear declaration of war against the Turkish state and our nation," Davutoglu told reporters in Konya.

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