Turkey's entire top brass quit on Friday night leaving one America's strongest military's allies leaderless as the country's Islamic government confronts senior officers for conspiring against the prime minister
Gen Kosaner resigned because he "deemed it necessary," according to a report on NTV Photo: REUTERS
6:01PM BST 29 Jul 2011
44 CommentsGen Isik Kosaner, the head of the Turkish armed forces, quit his post along with the heads of the ground, naval and air forces in protest over government pressure to sack scores of serving officers they wished to promote.
The generals had been preparing for a confrontation with Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan at next week's annual promotions board.
Gen Kosaner resigned because he "deemed it necessary," according to a report on NTV. Mr Erdogan had signalled he would block promotions for officers he believed were part of a conspiracy to destabilise Turkey and undermine his government.
The first elected prime minister from an Islamic movement was targeted by a conspiracy known as Sledgehammer, prosecutors have alleged.
Police have drawn up a list of 195 suspect, all retired or active duty members of the military, who had been party to the plot since 2003, the year Mr Erdogan took office.
The authorities are holding 42 senior officers as part of the investigation into the alleged plot to overthrow the ruling Justice and Development Party.
Senior officers in the army had been trying to get the imprisoned officers promoted despite their incarceration, but the government has insisted that they be forced to retire.
Officials have also hinted that they wish to seek charges brought against two former chiefs of staff, Gen. Büyükanıt, who has been accused of involvement in a 2005 bombing, while retired Gen Ilker Başbuğ has been accused of ordering subordinates to run subversive websites.
Turkey's military regards its role as guardian of the secular state established by Mustafa Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. The second biggest military in Nato has steadily lost ground as Mr Erdogan is rewarded by voters for presiding over an economic boom.
The Turkish Lire fell more than one per cent on foreign exchange markets as analysts warned that the escalation of tensions and a protracted power struggle could derail Turkey's progress.
"Things in Turkey look chaotic," Suha Yaygin, deputy chief of emerging markets at Toronto-Dominion Bank said. "This has never happened in Turkey."
The Turkish military serves in Afghanistan and has been battling an upsurge in Kurdish terrorism. More than 20 conscripts have been killed in recent attacks.
Its defenders rubbish the government claims of a vast deep state conspiracy believing the evidence presented so far is built on assumptions not hard evidence of wrong doing.
The government said that Turkish democracy will lack credibility and be vulnerable to security service plotting if the cases are not prosecuted.
More than 400 people, including high profile academics, journalists, politicians and soldiers, are separately on trial for participation in another project – known as the Ergenekon Plot – to bring down the government.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/8671459/Turkeys-entire-military-command-quits-over-row-with-government.html
Senior officers in the army had been trying to get the imprisoned officers promoted despite their incarceration, but the government has insisted that they be forced to retire.
Officials have also hinted that they wish to seek charges brought against two former chiefs of staff, Gen. Büyükanıt, who has been accused of involvement in a 2005 bombing, while retired Gen Ilker Başbuğ has been accused of ordering subordinates to run subversive websites.
Turkey's military regards its role as guardian of the secular state established by Mustafa Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. The second biggest military in Nato has steadily lost ground as Mr Erdogan is rewarded by voters for presiding over an economic boom.
The Turkish Lire fell more than one per cent on foreign exchange markets as analysts warned that the escalation of tensions and a protracted power struggle could derail Turkey's progress.
"Things in Turkey look chaotic," Suha Yaygin, deputy chief of emerging markets at Toronto-Dominion Bank said. "This has never happened in Turkey."
The Turkish military serves in Afghanistan and has been battling an upsurge in Kurdish terrorism. More than 20 conscripts have been killed in recent attacks.
Its defenders rubbish the government claims of a vast deep state conspiracy believing the evidence presented so far is built on assumptions not hard evidence of wrong doing.
The government said that Turkish democracy will lack credibility and be vulnerable to security service plotting if the cases are not prosecuted.
More than 400 people, including high profile academics, journalists, politicians and soldiers, are separately on trial for participation in another project – known as the Ergenekon Plot – to bring down the government.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/8671459/Turkeys-entire-military-command-quits-over-row-with-government.html
