ANKARA – Turkey said yesterday its top four military chiefs were all seeking retirement, in moves that appeared to reflect a deep rift between the secularist military and a government with roots in political Islam.
State-run Anatolian news agency said the head of the armed forces, Gen Isik Kosaner, and the commanders of the ground, naval and air forces were all stepping down, in what some Turkish media initially described as resignations.
The reason for the move by the generals was not immediately clear, but tensions between the military and the government of Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan have run high in recent years. – (Reuters)