Eight Turkish soldiers have been detained over ‘deputy PM assassination plot’
27.12.2009 16:37 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ It said the soldiers were taken to the army
headquarters in Ankara after being interrogated by a prosecutor on
Friday. The arrests follow an inquiry which was launched last week
after Mr Arinc said a car with two officers had been spotted several
times near his house.
The Turkish military denied being part of any plot. It said the
officers were investigating a military official living nearby. The
detentions come amid renewed speculation that there is mounting
tension between the governing AK Party, which has its roots in
political Islam, and the powerful armed forces.

The Turkish army sees itself as the guardian of the country’s
secularism. Earlier this year, dozens of people, including two retired
generals, journalists and academics, went on trial in Turkey accused
of plotting to overthrow the government. Prosecutors argue that they
were members of a shadowy ultranationalist network – dubbed Ergenekon
– which allegedly aimed to provoke a military coup, BBC reported.