Tweet
MORE TURKISH GENERALS DETAINED OVER 1997 COUP
http://lurer.com/?p=81083&l=en
2013-02-28 16:16:04
The former commander of Turkey's land forces has been jailed pending
trial in a widening investigation of the toppling of Turkey's first
Islamist-led government in 1997, state media said on Thursday.
General Erdal Ceylanoglu, who is believed to have ordered tanks onto
the streets outside the capital ahead of the military intervention
16 years ago, joined dozens already remanded in custody ahead of the
court case.
The inquiry into the ousting of former prime minister Necmettin
Erbakan is part of a wider extensive judicial investigation into the
once-supreme Turkish military, whose power has been sharply curbed
over the past decade.
The two generals were taken to a maximum security prison in Sincan,
a town outside Ankara where Ceylanoglu is charged with commanding
tanks onto the streets during the upheaval in 1997.
While Erdogan has promoted the trials as part of the process of
ending the generals' political power, he has more recently called
for the investigations to be wrapped up more quickly and has hit
out at the lengthy pre-trial detentions of hundreds of officers on
conspiracy charges.
More than 300 military officers were sentenced to jail in September
for plotting to overthrow Erdogan in 2003. Nearly 300 other people -
including politicians, academics, journalists and retired army officers
- are on trial on charges of orchestrating political violence.
http://lurer.com/?p=81083&l=en
2013-02-28 16:16:04
The former commander of Turkey's land forces has been jailed pending
trial in a widening investigation of the toppling of Turkey's first
Islamist-led government in 1997, state media said on Thursday.
General Erdal Ceylanoglu, who is believed to have ordered tanks onto
the streets outside the capital ahead of the military intervention
16 years ago, joined dozens already remanded in custody ahead of the
court case.
The inquiry into the ousting of former prime minister Necmettin
Erbakan is part of a wider extensive judicial investigation into the
once-supreme Turkish military, whose power has been sharply curbed
over the past decade.
The two generals were taken to a maximum security prison in Sincan,
a town outside Ankara where Ceylanoglu is charged with commanding
tanks onto the streets during the upheaval in 1997.
While Erdogan has promoted the trials as part of the process of
ending the generals' political power, he has more recently called
for the investigations to be wrapped up more quickly and has hit
out at the lengthy pre-trial detentions of hundreds of officers on
conspiracy charges.
More than 300 military officers were sentenced to jail in September
for plotting to overthrow Erdogan in 2003. Nearly 300 other people -
including politicians, academics, journalists and retired army officers
- are on trial on charges of orchestrating political violence.