TURKEY’S MILITARY INVESTIGATES NEW PLOT REPORT
By Ibon Villelabeitia
Reuters
Oct 27 2009
* Military-government tensions watched closely
* Army has long history of intervening
ANKARA, Oct 27 (Reuters) – Turkey’s military said on Tuesday it
launched an investigation into reports detailing a suspected army
plan to discredit the ruling Islamist-rooted AK Party, which have
stirred political tensions and unnerved markets.
The alleged plot was first unveiled in June by liberal newspaper Taraf,
which said then it had obtained a photocopy of an army document
detailing a suspected plan to stop the AK Party and a religious
movement from "destroying Turkey’s secular order and replacing it by
an Islamist state."
The secular military, which has clashed with the government in the past
over the direction of the Muslim but officially secular European Union
candidate country, ruled at the time after conducting an investigation
that the document was forged and called it part of a smear campaign.
In recent days, some Turkish media have reported that an unnamed
officer had sent what they called the original document of the
suspected plot to a prosecutor.
"For a detailed research of the issues included in the scope of the
military judiciary, it was ordered that an investigation take place,"
the general staff said in a statement.
According to media reports, the unnamed officer also attached a letter
in which the officer accuses senior military commanders of being
aware of the coup and of ordering the destruction of all evidence of
the plot.
Prosecutors were not immediately available for comment.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who is on an official visit to Iran,
told reporters travelling with him: "It is unacceptable for the Turkish
armed forces to be subject to so much suspicion. I will discuss the
issue with the head of the armed forces".
MARKETS UNNERVED
The reports have unnerved local markets, which follow
military-government ties very closely. Some analysts say the reports
could have been leaked to media to stir tensions at a time the
government has embarked on sensitive plans to expand rights to Kurds
and to mend ties with Armenia.
There have been tensions between the army and the government in Turkey
in the past, but ties between the two have improved considerably in
recent months.
Some traders said political uncertainty caused by the reports were
affecting markets, which are already under pressure from the jittery
global economic sentiment.
"The strength of the dollar is one reason for the loss in lira and
bond markets, but there is also some uncertainty regarding the tension
in the political arena, between the military and the government,"
said Tuncay Tursucu, head of research at Meksa Invest.
The army has staged three coups and helped topple one government in the
last 50 years, but analysts see little risk of the military staging
a new putsch because of strong public support for the AK Party and
concern any such move would hurt the reputation of the armed forces.
The AK Party has been at odds with the secularist establishment of
generals, judges and academics, which accuses Prime Minister Tayyip
Erdogan’s AK Party of having a secret Islamist agenda. The AK Party
denies any such agenda. (Additional reporting by Daren Butler)
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
