Turkish police round up 30 in coup probe

January 7, 2009 - 10:36PM

Turkish police have rounded up more than 30 people, including academics and retired generals, as part of a country-wide investigation into a purported plot to topple the Islamist-rooted government.
The arrests came in simultaneous raids on Wednesday in six provinces, including Ankara and Istanbul, on instructions from the Istanbul court investigating Ergenekon, an alleged gang of anti-government secularists, the Anatolia news agency said.

The agency put the number of detentions at more than 30, while the NTV and CNN-Turk news channels said nearly 40 people had been detained.

Among them are Yalcin Kucuk, a prominent but controversial academic, retired general Tuncer Kilinc and several other retired officers, as well as Kemal Guruz, the former head of Turkey's higher education watchdog, reports said.

In October, 86 people - retired army officers, politicians, journalists and underworld figures - went on trial for alleged membership in Ergenekon and plotting to topple the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The indictment accused the defendants of planning violence and assassinations to foment political turmoil and pave the way for a military coup.

Some 30 others - including two retired generals - were arrested in the later stages of the investigation, but have yet to be indicted as prosecutors pursue their investigation.

The Ergenekon investigation has been hailed by pro-government circles and some liberals as an unprecedented step to combat rogue elements of the state intervening illegally in national politics.
But others, including secularists, accuse the AKP of using the probe as a tool of revenge against political opponents after their failed bid last year to have the Constitutional Court outlaw the party.
© 2009 AFP
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