ISTANBUL, Feb 27, (AFP) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the army that no one was above the law as a key suspect was charged and more soldiers were detained in a massive probe into an alleged 2003 coup plot.
"Those who make plans behind closed doors to crush the people's will must see that from now on they will face justice," Erdogan said in Ankara. "No one is above the law, no one has impunity."
The unprecedented probe has rattled Turkey, raising fears of a showdown between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) -- the offshoot of a banned Islamist movement -- and the army, the self-declared guardian of the country's secular system.
The number of suspects incarcerated so far reached 33 Friday as an Istanbul court charged an alleged leader of the plot and another retired general, remanding them in custody pending trial, Anatolia news agency said.
Prosecutors will detail the charges against Cetin Dogan, ex-commander of the Istanbul-based First Army where the coup plan was allegedly drafted, and Engin Alan, former head of the special forces, when they present their indictment.
Meanwhile another 18 soldiers were rounded up across the country in a second wave of arrests since Monday, media reports said.
They were being brought to Istanbul to answer accusations of involvement in the plot to foment unrest and justify a military takeover against the AKP.
Dismissing accusations that his government was trying to discredit the army, Erdogan hailed the probe as a sign of improving democracy in a country where the army has unseated four governments since 1960.
"What is happening today is normalisation... These are the footsteps of an advanced democracy," he said. |
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