Turkish Army Says Situation ‘Serious’ After Arrests (Update3)
(Adds trader comment in sixth paragraph, nationalist opposition in 12th paragraph.)
By Steve Bryant and Mark Bentley
Feb. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Turkey’s army said the detention of officers over an alleged coup plot was a “serious situation,” in the sharpest escalation of tensions with the government since a 2007 showdown that led to early elections.
The top commanders gathered at military headquarters in Ankara late yesterday to discuss the detention of more than 40 serving and retired officers, the army said on its Web site. Those arrested in a series of police raids on Feb. 22 included former heads of the air force and navy.
Turkish stocks and bonds fell for a third day as the arrests deepened strains between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the army, which has ousted four governments since 1960. Erdogan, whose Justice and Development Party has roots in political Islam, has curtailed the secular generals’ influence over decision-making as Turkey chases European Union membership.
“What was a low-intensity conflict has this week escalated into high intensity,” said Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkey program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “We’re facing a period of extreme polarization in politics, and the country is so consumed with it all that it seems to me only early elections can provide a breath of fresh air.”
The benchmark ISE-100 stock index fell 1.8 percent to 50,488 at 2:50 p.m. in Istanbul, extending its decline this week to 5.3 percent. Yields on benchmark two-year lira bonds rose 1 basis point to 8.95 percent and the currency rose 0.4 percent to 1.546 per dollar, paring a drop of 1.3 percent last night after the army’s statement.
Political Tension
“The political tension is driving the declines,” said Orhan Canli, a trader at Is Investment in Istanbul. “We’re now looking for any sign of a softening in positions in Ankara, that might help us recover a bit.”
Those detained this week include Ibrahim Firtina and Ozden Ornek, who headed the air force and navy in 2003, Erdogan’s first year in office, when the alleged coup plans were drawn up.
At least 10 current and former officers were brought to court in Istanbul today, NTV television reported. The court last night ruled that seven officers, including two serving admirals, should be held pending trial, while another six were released, the Anatolia news agency said.
Erdogan, 55, has chipped away at the military’s powers. He ended army control over the National Security Council in 2003 and ignored objections that same year from the generals to a United Nations plan for the reunification of Cyprus.
More Islamic?
Critics say Erdogan’s government is trying to make Turkey more Islamic. The number of shops selling alcoholic drinks has fallen by 17,000 in the past four years, Tuncay Ozilhan, chairman of the country’s biggest brewer, Anadolu Efes Biracilik & Malt Sanayii AS, told reporters last week.
Erdogan met with senior ministers for one and a half hours late yesterday, Anatolia said. There was no announcement. Today, the premier visited a construction site in Ankara, it said.
The arrests are Erdogan’s “revenge” on the army, and he should stop fighting with the country’s institutions and help ease political tensions, Kemal Anadol, a lawmaker from the opposition Republican People’s Party, said in an interview at the parliament in Ankara today. Government legislator Suat Kilic said the detentions were part of a “democratic normalisation.”
Early elections are the only escape from the “extremely dangerous developments,” nationalist opposition leader Devlet Bahceli said in a statement published on his party’s Web site.
Erdogan Landslide
Erdogan called an election in 2007 after the army criticized his choice of Abdullah Gul as president because of his Islamist past. Justice won re-election with 47 percent of the vote, the biggest share any Turkish party had drawn in almost 40 years, and promoted Gul to the presidency.
The party’s vote declined to 39 percent in local polls in March 2009, as the economy was hit by the global crisis. Gross domestic product probably shrank about 6 percent last year, according to government estimates.
The next election is due by July 2011. Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said on Feb. 22 that the government intends to serve its full term.
This week’s arrests are the latest in a two-year investigation that has seen scores of ex-officers, journalists and academics jailed and put on trial on charges of planning a coup. They follow a report in Taraf newspaper on Jan. 21 that army officers drafted a plan in 2003 to stage bombings in order to undermine confidence in Erdogan’s government.
Chief of General Staff Ilker Basbug on Jan. 25 said the allegations were part of a campaign of psychological warfare designed to undermine public trust in the armed forces. He also said the army is committed to democracy and coups are “a thing of the past.”
--With assistance from Ali Berat Meric in Ankara. Editors: Edward DeMarco, Ben Holland.
To contact the reporters on this story: Steve Bryant in Ankara at sbryant5@bloomberg.net; Mark Bentley at mbentley3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Hirschberg in Jerusalem at phirschberg@bloomberg.net
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.