TURKEY: A prosecutor has called on the Turkish military to investigate a top general over allegations he had tried to set up a rogue force that would undermine the country's bid to join the European Union, the Turkish media has reported.
The move has sparked fresh tensions between Turkey's fiercely pro-secular army and its Islam-rooted government.
On Monday prime minister Recep Erdogan met the chief of staff to discuss the accusations against Gen Yasar Buyukanit, commander of Turkey's land forces, and two other senior officers levelled by the chief prosecutor of the southeastern city of Van. Mr Erdogan and the chief of staff, Hilmi Ozkok, declined to comment.
Gen Buyukanit, who is scheduled to succeed Gen Ozkok in August, was quoted as saying he was prepared to defend himself in court. "If I am put on trial for such a reason, I will appear and defend myself," he told the pro-secular daily newspaper Cumhuriyet. Although the military says it backs Turkey's bid to join the EU, some officers oppose the move.
In a 100-page indictment of three men charged in a bombing last year, prosecutor Ferhat Sarikaya reportedly accused Gen Buyukanit and two comrades of setting up a force that would stoke unrest among the nation's minority Kurds in hopes of undermining the EU bid.
The indictment also reportedly referred to claims by a prominent Kurdish industrialist that some members of the force were involved in extortion, racketeering and extrajudicial slayings of Kurdish activists and business people. The prosecutor's office declined to comment.
The accusations follow a bombing in November at a bookshop run by a Kurdish nationalist in the town of Semdinli on the Iraqi border. Suspicions that rogue elements in the security forces were linked to the attack surfaced when locals pursued and tried to lynch three men suspected of the bombing. The men were identified by authorities as two noncommissioned officers and a Kurdish rebel, turned informer, who were engaged in intelligence activities.
Their car was registered to the local gendarmerie command and contained weapons, as well as a list of 105 potential targets, including the bookshop owner and Kurdish tribal chiefs.
Gen Buyukanit was named as a possible accomplice, the daily Sabah reported. The three suspects could face life sentences if convicted of the charges, which include attempted murder and seeking to sabotage the unity of the state.