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Turkish police detain more than 40 in alleged coup plot

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Turkish police on Monday detained more than 40 people in connection with an alleged military plot to overthrow the Islamic-rooted government. According to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the arrests occurred during security operations in which 14 senior military officers, including former air force chief Ibrahim Firtina and former navy chief Ozden Ornek, were taken into custody. The investigation comes after the liberal newspaper Taraf exposed a plot by a group within the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) in January. The newspaper described the Balyoz Security Operation Plan (Sledgehammer plot) and the 5,000 page document that detailed plans to bomb Istanbul mosques and provoke Greece into shooting down Turkish planes. The alleged coup plot highlights the continuing power struggle between Turkey's ruling Justice Development Party (AKP) and the country's secular nationalist establishment. The Sledgehammer plot is similar to the Ergenekon conspiracy, in which the secular group is suspected of planning to overthrow the AKP. The Ergenekon group is also alleged to be involved in bombings, political assassination plots, and the death of journalist Hrant Dink. The probe into the Ergenekon conspiracy has been criticized as an attempt by the AKP to silence opposition and further its imposition of Islamic principles in violation of Turkey's secular constitution. Trials against the Ergenekon group opened two years ago with more than 200 suspects in custody. The suspects include journalists, academics, army officers, policemen, and Turkish Workers' Party leader Dogu Perincek.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on February 22, 2010 (boomark / email).