ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Seven senior Turkish military officers were charged on Wednesday over an alleged plot to topple a government seen by conservative secularists, not least in the army, as pursuing a hidden Islamist agenda.
Turkey’s top military commanders, who have seen the army’s role as ultimate guardian of secularism eroded under European Union-backed reforms, held an emergency meeting late on Tuesday and warned in a statement of a “serious situation”.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who denies any Islamist ambitions, consulted overnight with his deputy and the interior and justice ministers.
The tension, which has fed speculation that elections due next year could be brought forward, hit investor confidence.
The lira weakened to a seven-month low against the dollar, while shares fell 1.9 percent and bond yields rose. The Istanbul stock index has fallen 5.7 percent this week.
The ruling AK Party, first elected in 2002 in a landslide victory over older, established parties blighted by corruption and accusations of misrule, is also embroiled in a dispute with the judiciary -- another pillar of the orthodox establishment.
Although the army says the days of coups are over, Turks know their country’s history well, having seen four governments of various political hues ousted since 1960.
The coups took different forms, from outright armed overthrow to public and covert political pressure to go.
Though chances for another coup are seen as remote, there is mounting anxiety over what the generals might do next and what strains the situation might produce in the forces leadership.
Turkey’s NATO allies, particularly the United States, want to see the Muslim nation mature as a democracy. Turkey’s prospects of entering the EU depend in part on ending the special status that made the arrest of military personnel by civilian authorities inconceivable until recently.
The tensions were triggered by a dramatic police swoop on Monday that detained around 50 serving and retired officers in an unprecedented operation.
The most senior detainees, retired Air Force Commander Ibrahim Firtina and ex-navy chief Ozden Ornek, were being held at police headquarters in Istanbul, while retired admiral Ahmet Feyyaz Ogutcu and 11 other officers were sent to court for questioning, the CNN Turk news channel reported.
The seven officers charged overnight included four admirals, two retired and two serving; a retired brigadier-general and two retired colonels, state-run Anatolian news agency said.
They have been jailed awaiting trial. Pending a formal indictment, they are accused of belonging to a terrorist group and of attempting to overthrow the government by force.
Six officers were released from custody on Tuesday after questioning. It was unclear if they would face charges.
CLASH ON TWO FRONTS
The army leadership has said previously that probes of a series of alleged coup plots was hurting morale in the ranks.
In a characteristically veiled and brief statement on its web site on Tuesday, the General Staff said its top commanders had met to “assess the serious situation that has arisen”.
“What do you mean? Are you going to carry out a coup?” said a headline in Taraf, a low-circulation pro-government newspaper that has broken several stories of alleged coup plots.
The current investigation into the so-called “Sledgehammer” plan, allegedly drawn up in 2003, was triggered by a report in Taraf last month. The military has said the plan was just a scenario drawn up for an army seminar.
Asked about the military’s statement, AK Party Deputy Leader Salih Kapusuz cautioned against meetings or comments that could prejudice the legal process.
The government is under some obligation to press on with the investigations to demonstrate to the European Union that it is serious about bringing the military under full civilian control, said Royal Bank of Scotland analyst Timothy Ash.
“At the same time, further arrests will just further accentuate tensions. It’s a difficult balancing act and indeed this might provoke a counter reaction from the secular establishment,” Ash said.
The country’s chief prosecutor narrowly failed to have Erdogan’s party banned in 2008 having accused it of anti-secular activities and there is speculation he could try again.
Retired military officers are among around 200 people indicted over separate plots by a far-right group known as Ergenekon. Critics say that trial is being used to target political opponents, an accusation the government rejects.
A Turkish court on Wednesday charged and jailed seven senior Turkish military officers for allegedly plotting several years ago to overthrow the Turkish government. 

The officers consist of  four admirals, an army general, and two staff colonels.  Among them were Admiral Ramazan Cem Gundeniz, Admiral Aziz Cakmak, retired General Mehmet Kaya Varol, retired Admiral Ali Deniz Kutluk, and retired Admiral Ozer Karabulut.  Also arrested were retired General İbrahim Fırtına, who was Commander of the Air Force from 2003 until his retirement in 2005, and retired Admiral Ozden Ornek, Commander of the Navy, also from 2003 to 2005.  The court released six other officers.

The seven were among more than 40 officers arrested on Monday over an alleged 2003 plot to create chaos in Turkey and justify a military coup.  The military said in a statement that all top generals and admirals met at the military headquarters yesterday to evaluate "the serious situation" regarding the investigation.

Last month '''' newspaper stated it had obtained 5,000 pages of documents and tapes on the 'Sledgehammer' plan, which was aimed to overthrow the  (''Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi'') and to justify an army takeover in 2003. According to the report on January 21 2010, the army had plotted to provoke Greek fighter jets into shooting down a Turkish military jet and plant bombs in  mosques. The Turkish military had said documents were part of a military training seminar and not meant to be carried out.

Chief of General Staff  on January 25 called these allegations “unconscionable” and said they were part of a campaign of psychological warfare designed to undermine public trust in the armed forces.

“This is not something we’ve ever experienced in Turkey before, so it’s very hard to predict what will happen,” said , director of the democratization program at Istanbul research institute . Possible military responses may range from a mass resignation to a statement expressing faith in the judicial process, he said.

29 of those detained are being questioned by Istanbul police and another ten officers were brought before an Istanbul court on Tuesday morning according to reports by  '''' and state-run .

The  have been responsible for 4 military coups in Turkey in the last 50 years.  Other senior military officers have been arrested and indicted in separate plot to overthrow the government, involving a supposed far-right, ultra-nationalist group known as .  Opponents of the government claim the ongoing trial of the Ergenekon group is being used by the government to target political opposition.  The government rejects the accusation.