Turkish ex-army chief in plot charge
- 12 years ago
EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: CONTAINS CONVERTED 4:3 MATERIAL
Former armed forces chief, General Ilker Basbug is remanded in custody, pending trial, charged with bidding to overthrow the government.
He retired two years ago and is the highest-ranking officer caught up in the so-called Ergenekon case, an ultra-nationalist group accused by prosecutors of conspiring to topple the government.
The case is seen as part of a power struggle between Turkish Prime Minister's ruling AK party and an old secularist establishment including military officers, lawyers, journalists and politicians.
A Turkish court ordered Basbug be taken into custody on Thursday.
After a health check he was to be taken to prison to spend a night behind bars -- a first for a former head of the military.
He was facing preliminary charges of "gang leadership" and seeking to unseat the government by force, state-run Anatolian news agency said.
Basbug who was in court on Thursday, rejected the allegations.
Marie-Claire Fennessy, Reuters
Former armed forces chief, General Ilker Basbug is remanded in custody, pending trial, charged with bidding to overthrow the government.
He retired two years ago and is the highest-ranking officer caught up in the so-called Ergenekon case, an ultra-nationalist group accused by prosecutors of conspiring to topple the government.
The case is seen as part of a power struggle between Turkish Prime Minister's ruling AK party and an old secularist establishment including military officers, lawyers, journalists and politicians.
A Turkish court ordered Basbug be taken into custody on Thursday.
After a health check he was to be taken to prison to spend a night behind bars -- a first for a former head of the military.
He was facing preliminary charges of "gang leadership" and seeking to unseat the government by force, state-run Anatolian news agency said.
Basbug who was in court on Thursday, rejected the allegations.
Marie-Claire Fennessy, Reuters