Turkey's highest court has annulled legislation that would have closed down private schools linked to a movement led by U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, the Associated Press reports.

The Constitutional Court's ruling late Monday, July 13, comes as a blow to the government's battle against a group it accuses of attempting to destabilize it.

The law would have shut down thousands of institutions that prepare high school students for Turkey's highly competitive university entrance exam. Critics said that with the measure, the government aimed to strip the movement of a major source of income and influence.

The ruling was reported by pro-government and other media. The court is expected to announce the reasoning for its decision on Wednesday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his AK Party accuse Gulen and his supporters of seeking to establish a "parallel state" in Turkey and of orchestrating a corruption investigation in 2013 which briefly threatened to engulf the government. Gulen, who denies the accusations, stepped up his own criticism of Erdogan, saying he was leading Turkey "toward totalitarianism".