ANKARA - The Islamist Prime Minister, Mr Necmettin Erbakan, has signed a military-sponsored plan for a security operation against pro-Islamic radicals, ending a standoff with Turkey's powerful army, a senior military official said yesterday.
"The signing problem has been resolved," the National Security Council's secretary general, Gen Ilhan Kilic, said. The end of the standoff had been disclosed moments earlier by the Foreign Minister, Ms Tansu Ciller.
The National Security Council includes both political leaders and top officers from the armed forces, which regards itself as the guardians of Turkey's secular political system.