Three Turkish commanders brought to court

The three men – all retired four-star generals – will be questioned by prosecutors, who can either release them or ask a court to hold them in custody on charges of involvement in the alleged “Balyoz” (Sledgehammer) coup plot.

All three generals had been held in the police department for three days without being questioned, because according to Turkish law, only chief prosecutors are allowed to question commanders.

Earlier Thursday, the court ruled that an additional eight people should be kept in jail pending trial, bringing the number of incarcerated suspects to 20, the Anatolia news agency reported. Detailed charges against the suspects will become clear once the prosecution pens its indictment. A total of 12 suspects have been released after questioning.

The purported Sledgehammer coup plot is said to have been drawn up and discussed in 2003 within the Istanbul-based 1st Army shortly after the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, came to power. It is unknown whether the suspects made any move to activate the alleged plan, first reported in January by daily Taraf, which routinely targets the military in its pages.

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 at a seminar in March 2003. The military has responded that the seminar involved discussion of war-time contingency plans and has denied a coup plot.

Military members are already among dozens of defendants in a long-running case against the alleged Ergenekon network, which is accused of planning to foment unrest to provoke a military coup against the AKP. The probe’s credibility has waned as police began arresting journalists, writers and academics known to be AKP critics, sparking accusations that it has degenerated into a campaign to silence the secularist opposition.

Turkey’s chief prosecutor said last week that he was examining whether the government is exerting pressure on the judiciary, a move that could theoretically result in a bid to seek the AKP’s closure at the Constitutional Court.

/Hurriyet Daily News/