Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Turkish Military Commanders Arrested In Plot Against Islamic Leaning Prime Minister

AP reported yesterday that Turkish police have arrested 52 military commanders for planning a military overthrow of the Islamic oriented government of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. In simultaneous operations in eight cities, police detained the military leaders, including 21 generals and admirals. They are charged with plotting to blow up mosques in order to set off a military coup. They also are charged with planning to shoot down a Turkish warplane to trigger an armed conflict with Greece. Turkey's military has always strongly supported secularism in the country. (See prior related posting.)