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BBC
1 August 2011
Last updated at 09:07 GMT
Turkey to appoint military chiefs
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan chairs the annual meeting of the Supreme
Military Council
The government in Turkey will on Monday start appointing new
commanders of the armed forces at a four-day annual military
promotions meeting.
It will be the first time a civilian government decides who commands
the various armed forces in Turkey.
It follows last week's resignations of the chief of the Turkish armed
forces and army, navy and air force heads.
The officials were furious about the arrests of senior officers
accused of plotting to undermine the government.
War of words
The military and the governing AK party have for the past two years
been engaged in a war of words over allegations that parts of the
military had been plotting a coup.
The BBC's correspondent in Turkey, Jonathan Head, says the contest
between the armed forces and the party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, which has its roots in political Islam, has now come to a
head and Mr Erdogan has won.
He says Mr Erdogan and his ally, President Abdullah Gul, now insist
they will have the final say over who commands the military.
President Gul last week appointed General Necdet Ozel (pictured) as
new army chief
The former chief of the Turkish armed forces, Isik Kosaner, portrayed
his resignation last week as a protest at the jailing of military
officers in a variety of court cases.
Gen Kosaner and his senior commanders quit just hours after a court
charged 22 suspects, including several generals and officers, with
carrying out an internet campaign to undermine the government.
But our correspondent says there have been no hints of the military
intervention in politics, which has been a hallmark of modern Turkish
history.
He says Mr Erdogan is instead likely to use the four day promotions
meeting to put more sympathetic officers into top positions, banishing
the latent threat that the staunchly secular military has posed to his
government during his eight years in office.
President Gul last week appointed General Necdet Ozel as the new army chief.
Gen Ozel is widely expected to be swiftly elevated to chief of the
general staff in place of Gen Kosaner. Tradition dictates that only
the head of the army can take over the top job.
Sledgehammer controversy
The case that prompted last week's military resignations is the latest
element of the protracted 'Sledgehammer' controversy - a coup plan
allegedly presented at an army seminar in 2003.
It reportedly involved plans to bomb mosques and provoke tensions with
Greece, in order to spark political chaos and justify a military
takeover.
Seventeen generals and admirals currently in line for promotion were
among those jailed in the Sledgehammer prosecutions. Altogether nearly
200 officers were charged with conspiracy.
Twenty-eight servicemen will go on trial next month.
The defendants have argued that the plot was a just theoretical
scenario to help them plan for potential political unrest.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14362538
1 August 2011
Last updated at 09:07 GMT
Turkey to appoint military chiefs
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan chairs the annual meeting of the Supreme
Military Council
The government in Turkey will on Monday start appointing new
commanders of the armed forces at a four-day annual military
promotions meeting.
It will be the first time a civilian government decides who commands
the various armed forces in Turkey.
It follows last week's resignations of the chief of the Turkish armed
forces and army, navy and air force heads.
The officials were furious about the arrests of senior officers
accused of plotting to undermine the government.
War of words
The military and the governing AK party have for the past two years
been engaged in a war of words over allegations that parts of the
military had been plotting a coup.
The BBC's correspondent in Turkey, Jonathan Head, says the contest
between the armed forces and the party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, which has its roots in political Islam, has now come to a
head and Mr Erdogan has won.
He says Mr Erdogan and his ally, President Abdullah Gul, now insist
they will have the final say over who commands the military.
President Gul last week appointed General Necdet Ozel (pictured) as
new army chief
The former chief of the Turkish armed forces, Isik Kosaner, portrayed
his resignation last week as a protest at the jailing of military
officers in a variety of court cases.
Gen Kosaner and his senior commanders quit just hours after a court
charged 22 suspects, including several generals and officers, with
carrying out an internet campaign to undermine the government.
But our correspondent says there have been no hints of the military
intervention in politics, which has been a hallmark of modern Turkish
history.
He says Mr Erdogan is instead likely to use the four day promotions
meeting to put more sympathetic officers into top positions, banishing
the latent threat that the staunchly secular military has posed to his
government during his eight years in office.
President Gul last week appointed General Necdet Ozel as the new army chief.
Gen Ozel is widely expected to be swiftly elevated to chief of the
general staff in place of Gen Kosaner. Tradition dictates that only
the head of the army can take over the top job.
Sledgehammer controversy
The case that prompted last week's military resignations is the latest
element of the protracted 'Sledgehammer' controversy - a coup plan
allegedly presented at an army seminar in 2003.
It reportedly involved plans to bomb mosques and provoke tensions with
Greece, in order to spark political chaos and justify a military
takeover.
Seventeen generals and admirals currently in line for promotion were
among those jailed in the Sledgehammer prosecutions. Altogether nearly
200 officers were charged with conspiracy.
Twenty-eight servicemen will go on trial next month.
The defendants have argued that the plot was a just theoretical
scenario to help them plan for potential political unrest.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14362538