http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\02\24\story_24-2-2010_pg4_3
Wednesday, February 24, 2010 Turkish military officers quizzed on alleged plot ISTANBUL: Turkish police on Tuesday questioned military officers detained a day earlier and others were brought to court over an alleged plot to bring down the Islamist-rooted government, broadcasters said. Retired commanders of the air force and navy and the former deputy armed forces chief were among 49 officers detained on Monday in a major operation targeting Turkey's powerful secularist armed forces. The dawn swoop has fuelled political strains and unsettled financial markets in European Union candidate Turkey, adding to tensions generated by a clash between the ruling AK Party and the secularist judiciary. The Turkish lira and shares weakened in morning trade as the investigation hurt investor sentiment. Twenty-nine of those detained are currently being questioned at Istanbul police headquarters, news broadcaster NTV reported. Ten officers were separately brought to an Istanbul court on Tuesday morning, state-run Anatolian news agency reported. The court will later rule on whether to remand them in custody. The detainees were being questioned on suspicion of forming a group with the aim of overthrowing the government, according to CNN Türk news channel. Current armed forces chief General Ilker Basbug has postponed a trip to Egypt as a result of the investigation. The military has not commented on the issue yet. According to previous media reports on the 2003 "Sledgehammer" plan, denied by the military, the army had plotted to provoke Greek fighter jets into shooting down a Turkish military jet and plant bombs in Istanbul mosques. The armed forces have ousted four governments since 1960 and such an operation against them would have been unimaginable until recent years. But EU-inspired democratic reforms have reined in the military's power. Other senior military officers have been indicted on charges of planning a separate plot by a far-right group known as "Ergenekon" to overthrow the government. That trial is ongoing. Critics of the government say the Ergenekon case has been used to target political opponents. reuters
