Turkey detains 26 in coup plan investigation

Wed Jul 23, 2008 9:28am EDT


(Updates detainees, adds details, background)

By Daren Butler

ISTANBUL, July 23 (Reuters) - Turkish police detained 26 people on Wednesday in connection with an investigation into an alleged plot to overthrow the government, state-run Anatolian news agency said.

The raids were part of an operation against the shadowy, ultra-nationalist Ergenekon organisation, which has fuelled uncertainty in Turkey and unsettled financial markets.

Eighty-six people have been charged with involvement in the plot against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government, which hardline secularists accuse of Islamist subversion.

Early on Wednesday, police staged simultaneous raids in five provinces from Istanbul in the west to Elazig in eastern Turkey, Anatolian reported.

Detainees include a journalist and senior officials from a small nationalist party whose leader is in custody, broadcaster CNN Turk reported.

It said the detentions were ordered by the prosecutors handling the Ergenekon case on suspicion of seeking to overthrow the government.

The operation was focused on the central Turkish province of Konya, where 13 people were held. The remaining detainees were also taken to Konya for questioning following a 1-1/2 year investigation, Anatolian said.

Three unlicensed guns, various documents and computers were seized during the raids.



HISTORY OF COUPS

In the last 50 years, military coups have unseated four elected governments in Turkey, a predominantly Muslim but officially secular country seeking to join the European Union.

Some opponents of the government, which denies any secret Islamist agenda, call the controversial coup case revenge for court moves to outlaw the ruling AK Party and ban Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul from party politics.

Istanbul's chief prosecutor filed the indictment last week on the Ergenekon case, which includes forming an armed terror group and attempting to overthrow the government by force. An Istanbul court must decide by July 28 whether to accept the case.

The 86 defendants named in the indictment include the head of a small nationalist party, journalists, and retired army officers.

Earlier this month, two senior retired generals, leading businessmen and journalists, all critical of the AK Party, were arrested and another indictment is being prepared for them.

The case has added to political concerns in Turkey generated by the case to close the AK Party for seeking to introduce Islamic rule. Constitutional Court judges will begin deliberating that case on July 28. (Editing by Stephen Weeks)



Comments (0)
This discussion is now closed. We welcome comments on our articles for a limited period after their publication.