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Xinhua General News Service, China
January 5, 2012 Thursday 4:25 PM EST
Former Turkish army chief faces arrest on charge of plotting to
overthrow government
ISTANBUL Jan. 5
Istanbul public prosecutor Thursday demanded the arrest of former
Turkish army chief Gen. Ilker Basbug on charges of leading a terrorist
organization and attempting to overthrow the Turkish government, state
media reported.
Public prosecutor with special authority Cihan Kansiz took the
testimony of former chief of general staff and retired Gen. Basbug as
a suspect under an investigation launched by Istanbul deputy chief
prosecutor's office.
The prosecutor charged Basbug with leading a terrorist organization
and attempting to overthrow the Turkish government. Basbug arrived at
an Istanbul courthouse and testified as a suspect in an ongoing case
for seven hours.
It is the first time in Turkey's history that a former chief of staff
is being testified by a prosecutor.
The ongoing Internet Memorandum case refers to an alleged document by
the General Staff about setting up 42 Internet sites to distribute
propaganda against the ruling Justice and Development Party, the
outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), as well as Greeks and
Armenians.
General Basbug, who retired in 2010, is the highest-ranking officer to
be caught up in a widening probe into the so-called Ergenekon network,
an ultra-nationalist group accused by prosecutors of conspiring to
topple the government.
Several hundred defendants, including retired senior officers,
lawyers, academics and journalists, have been put on trial in cases
relating to the investigation.
Turkey's military, NATO's second-largest army, has long seen itself as
the guarantor of the country's secular constitution, and had carried
out three coups between 1960 and 1980 and pressured another government
from power in 1997.
From: Baghdasarian
January 5, 2012 Thursday 4:25 PM EST
Former Turkish army chief faces arrest on charge of plotting to
overthrow government
ISTANBUL Jan. 5
Istanbul public prosecutor Thursday demanded the arrest of former
Turkish army chief Gen. Ilker Basbug on charges of leading a terrorist
organization and attempting to overthrow the Turkish government, state
media reported.
Public prosecutor with special authority Cihan Kansiz took the
testimony of former chief of general staff and retired Gen. Basbug as
a suspect under an investigation launched by Istanbul deputy chief
prosecutor's office.
The prosecutor charged Basbug with leading a terrorist organization
and attempting to overthrow the Turkish government. Basbug arrived at
an Istanbul courthouse and testified as a suspect in an ongoing case
for seven hours.
It is the first time in Turkey's history that a former chief of staff
is being testified by a prosecutor.
The ongoing Internet Memorandum case refers to an alleged document by
the General Staff about setting up 42 Internet sites to distribute
propaganda against the ruling Justice and Development Party, the
outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), as well as Greeks and
Armenians.
General Basbug, who retired in 2010, is the highest-ranking officer to
be caught up in a widening probe into the so-called Ergenekon network,
an ultra-nationalist group accused by prosecutors of conspiring to
topple the government.
Several hundred defendants, including retired senior officers,
lawyers, academics and journalists, have been put on trial in cases
relating to the investigation.
Turkey's military, NATO's second-largest army, has long seen itself as
the guarantor of the country's secular constitution, and had carried
out three coups between 1960 and 1980 and pressured another government
from power in 1997.
From: Baghdasarian