Turkish PM warns army: 'No one above law'

Erdogan: those who plan to crush the people's will face justice, no one has impunity.

ISTANBUL - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the army Friday that no one is above the law as prosecutors grilled the suspected ringleader of an alleged 2003 coup plan to oust the democratically elected government.

"Those who make plans behind closed doors to crush the people's will must see that from now on they will face justice," Erdogan told a party gathering in Ankara as 11 more soldiers were charged in the unprecedented judicial onslaught against the influential Turkish military.

"No one is above the law, no one has impunity," he added.

The investigation has rattled the country, raising fears of an open confrontation between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the army.

Erdogan dismissed accusations that his party was trying to discredit the army, and described the probe a step towards improving the country's democracy.

"What is happening today is normalization... These are the footsteps of an advanced democracy," he said. "No one should have doubts and fears... Turkey is moving towards an advanced democracy."

The Turkish army has ousted four governments since 1960 and wielded significant influence on politics, but has seen its clout wane under reforms spearhead by Erdogan's government.

In Istanbul, prosecutors were questioning retired four-star general Cetin Dogan, who allegedly spearheaded the coup plot, Anatolia news agency said.

Earlier, a court jailed 11 more suspects pending trial, bringing the total number of those incarcerated to 31, including both serving and retired soldiers.

The three most senior figures questioned so far -- ex-navy chief Ozden Ornek, former air force commander Ibrahim Firtina and the former number two of the general staff, Ergin Saygun -- were released by prosecutors late Thursday in a move welcomed as a gesture de-escalating tensions in the short term.

However, the prosecutor in charge said the investigation was continuing, raising the possibility that the trio may still face trial.

Detailed charges against the suspects will become clear once the prosecution draws up its indictment.

The alleged coup plot is said to have been drafted in 2003 within the Istanbul-based First Army, shortly after the AKP came to power.

The First Army was at the time headed by Dogan, who was also a key figure in a harsh army campaign in 1997 that forced Turkey's prime minister and Erdogan's mentor, Necmettin Erbakan, to resign.

Several other soldiers were also to be questioned Friday, Anatolia said.

It is unknown whether the suspects made any move to activate the plan, codenamed "Operation Sledgehammer", first reported in January by the Taraf newspaper.

The plot allegedly involved plans to bomb mosques and provoke tensions with Greece to force the downing of a Turkish jet, thus discrediting the government and leading to its downfall.

Taraf said the plan was discussed in a seminar in March 2003, chaired by Dogan.

Denying any coup plot, Dogan has said they only discussed contingency plans based on a scenario of domestic unrest involving Islamist movements, coupled with the threat of a war.

He has charged that seminar documents were doctored to include plans to bomb mosques and for the downing of a Turkish jet.

Amid allegations that army members made a series of plans to discredit and topple the AKP, government supporters say the army must be forced to toe the line and stop meddling in politics.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=37517.