Turkey’s presidential communications directorate on Saturday night slammed “fictitious” and “unfounded” allegations levelled against the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, and others regarding reported partaking in high-level mafia-linked corruption in northern Cyprus.

The allegations, made by assassinated Turkish Cypriot businessman Halil Falyali’s former financial director Cemil Onal and Turkish opposition political party leader Ozgur Ozel, related to “dirty money being laundered”, bribes, and a “dirty network”, linking those at the top of the Turkish government, the Falyali family, and the Serim family.

The Serim family comprises father Maksut Serim, who managed Erdogan’s discretionary funds, and sons Yasin Ekrem Serim, Turkey’s former ambassador in the north, who was relieved of his duties in February.

“It has been determined that manipulative news regarding the change of duty at the Turkish embassy in Nicosia has been fabricated. All of the so-called dialogues and allegations in the news, in which [Erdogan] and [Fidan] are mentioned, are fictitious. Do not believe unfounded allegations,” the communications directorate said.

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The allegations had centred around rumoured cassette tapes which Halil Falyali had intended, if and when necessary, to use as blackmail against powerful figures.

Onal had alleged that when Serim was appointed as ambassador last summer, he was told, get those tapes and bring them back, that is how you will rise in the state”.

However, it has been reported that while Turkey’s National intelligence organisation (Mit) had discovered that there were a total of 45 or 46 such tapes, Serim only recovered 40, and kept the other five for himself.

Hakan Fidan then reportedly forwarded the tapes to Mit head Ibrahim Kalin, who informed Erdogan of the situation. The contents of the alleged missing tapes are not known, but it has been claimed that Erkam Yildirim and Halit Fidan are both mentioned.

Ozgur Ozel had then spoken about the matter in Turkey’s parliament earlier in the week.

“It turns out that Hakan Fidan is involved in this business. [Former Turkish prime minister] Binali Yildirim is involved in this business. The children of these friends, these politicians, the previous prime minister, the current foreign minister, are involved in this business. There are 45 tapes, 40 have been seized, five have been left hanging,” he said.

“Hakan Fidan’s son says this to this person. Binali Yildirim’s son says that to that person. I would be ashamed to say these things here. I am not Erdogan. The person who will call anyone a thief and say something based on the slander of false witnesses before the accusations are finalised is Erdogan. All the filth has been exposed here.”