Prosecutors interrogated 51 Turkish military commanders Tuesday over alleged plans to destabilize the country by blowing up mosques to trigger a coup and topple the Islamic-rooted government.
With the former chiefs of the Air Force and the Navy among those being questioned, it was the highest profile crackdown ever on the Turkish military, which has ousted four governments since 1960.
The sweep has dramatically deepened a power struggle between the secular establishment and the government, which has strong electoral backing and the European Union’s support.
For decades Turkey’s senior officers, self-appointed guardians of the country’s secular tradition, have called the shots. Known as “pashas,” — a title of respect harking back to Ottoman times — they were once deemed untouchable.
But the balance of power in this EU-candidate country shifted Monday as police rounded up the 51 commanders following the gathering of wiretap evidence and the discovery of an alleged secret coup plan, dubbed “the sledgehammer,” prepared when the commanders were on duty between 2003 and 2005.
Turkey was abuzz Tuesday with speculation about whether recordings of the plotters, which were posted on leading Web sites, were genuine.
In one, a top officer accuses the political leadership of trying to “tear down the country and carry it into another (Islamic) regime” and vows: “I will unleash (my forces) over Istanbul … It is our duty to act without mercy.”
The authenticity of the recording could not be independently verified.
The daily Taraf, which published leaked military documents that lead to the detentions, ran a banner headline exclaiming “The most heavy sledgehammer to military custody.”
The English-language newspaper Today’s Zaman said Tuesday the operation was launched after experts determined the leaked documents were authentic.
The government denies the ongoing crackdown is politically motivated or designed to silence government critics, as opposition parties claim.
“This is not a legal process. This is apparently a sheer process of political showdown,” said Deniz Baykal, head of the main opposition Republican People’s Party.
Devlet Bahceli, another opposition leader and head of the Nationalist Action Party, accused the government of carrying out a “political vendetta” but urged everyone to refrain from inflammatory statements that could further fuel the tensions.
The suspects included former Air Force chief Gen. Ibrahim Firtina and Navy Chief Adm. Ozden Ornek, who allegedly chronicled some failed coup attempts, as well ex-deputy chief Gen. Ergin Saygun — who had accompanied Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his 2007 meeting with former President George W. Bush in Washington.
Also detained were the former head of the Special Forces, Gen. Engin Alan, and the former head of the 1st Army, Gen. Cetin Dogan.
All of the suspects, including nearly two dozen retired and active duty generals and admirals, were expected after questioning to appear Tuesday in an Istanbul court that is hearing all coup plot allegations.
The suspects face charges of attempting to topple the government by force, and membership in an illegal organization for that purpose, the daily Milliyet reported Tuesday.
Erdogan said the government is preparing to overhaul the judiciary and the Constitution, a legacy of Turkey’s 1980 military coup, and could even take the issue to a “referendum.”
“A new constitution would make it easier for us to enter the EU,” Burhan Kuzu, head of a parliamentary commission in charge of constitutional amendments, said Monday.
