Posted on 07/29/2011 11:01:44 AM PDT by lbryce
Gen Isik Kosaner, the head of the Turkish armed forces, quit his post along with the heads of the ground, naval and air forces in protest over government pressure to sack scores of serving officers they wished to promote.
The generals had been preparing for a confrontation with Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan at next week's annual promotions board.
Gen Kosaner resigned because he "deemed it necessary," according to a report on NTV. Mr Erdogan had signalled he would block promotions for officers he believed were part of a conspiracy to destabilise Turkey and undermine his government.
The first elected prime minister from an Islamic movement was targeted by a conspiracy known as Sledgehammer, prosecutors have alleged.
Police have drawn up a list of 195 suspect, all retired or active duty members of the military, who had been party to the plot since 2003, the year Mr Erdogan took office.
The authorities are holding 42 senior officers as part of the investigation into the alleged plot to overthrow the ruling Justice and Development Party.
Senior officers in the army had been trying to get the imprisoned officers promoted despite their incarceration, but the government has insisted that they be forced to retire.
Officials have also hinted that they wish to seek charges brought against two former chiefs of staff, Gen. Büyükanıt, who has been accused of involvement in a 2005 bombing, while retired Gen Ilker Başbuğ has been accused of ordering subordinates to run subversive websites.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Uh, oh.
I wonder if the Generals are so sick of Erdogan they will consider a coup?
It has happened before.
Yes, there is a world going on outside of the budget battles...and we have a campaigner in chief that can’t multiask unless it’s making birthday, vacation, campaigning, organizing, fund-raising. actually leading? He can’t even do it on one front, let alone on a mutlinational stage... But never fear, Hillary is out there somewhere. Hoo-boy.
Most likely Erdogan is taking a pre-emptive strike against being removed from power by the military. The system, which has worked since the 1920s, has been defeated by radical islamic infiltration of the officer corps, exposing potential plans for military action against Erdogan regime.
Turkey’s secular roots? Turkey’s Kemal brush with secularism is a slight detour, a bubble that’s bursting. The Ottoman’s coming back.
two former chiefs of staff [have been] accused of involvement in a 2005 bombing [and] of ordering subordinates to run subversive websites . . . More than 400 . . . high profile academics, journalists, politicians and soldiers [are on trial for trying] to bring down the government.
Stop giving the Obama administration of aged 1960s Marxist spoiled brats and their ideological offspring ideas!
Obama already admires Lincoln who imprisoned opponents . . . .
BTW AMERICAN Fethullah Gulen's worldwide Islamic movement based in Pennsylvania is a huge factor in destroying Turkey and turning Her into an Islamist enemy of the United States of America.
My guess is they already did.
The government has already used the allegations of “Operation Sledgehammer” to dismantle elements in the military who would be politically opposed to the AKP. If the army is going to act, it better do so soon.
Remember Erdogan was the just-elected stickhead who wouldn’t let Bush/ Rumsfeld use his rusty railroad, which as I recall we helped build, to haul equipment to northern Iraq when we were fixing to go get Sadam? We wound up with transport cargo ships circling off Turkee with no place to go for a few days. In recent times he’s tried to flex by picking pissfights with the Israelis-——we don’t owe him “Nothing” and it sounds like his own people owe him even less———
The spirit of Attaturk lives...
This is not good. It seems to indicate that the military has lost the power struggle with the Islamists. They waited too long to act on their constitutional mandate, by several years.
Erdogan is the one who started this spat with trumped up charges and obviously fabricated evidence.
this is a very bad sign... the results could be.
a- Islamic Republic
b- coup
c- civil war
WOW! Thanks for posting.
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