More Turkish military officers charged in coup-plot case

More than 30 military officers, including two retired generals, have been charged in connection with an alleged 2003 plot to overthrow the government.

State run Anatolian said Colonel Huseyin Ozcoban, commander of the paramilitary gendarmerie forces in the city of Konya, and Lieutenant Colonel Yusuf Kelleli, were charged late on Sunday in an Istanbul court.

The two were arrested in an unprecedented investigation last week that prompted an emergency summit among political and military leaders in the European Union-candidate country.

The military has overthrown four governments in Turkey in the past 50 years, but has seen its power diminished.

Despite Turkey's history of military coups, most people believe the generals would not dare challenge the AK Party, which has a huge parliamentary majority, and destroy newfound confidence in democracy.


/World Bulletin/