Turkey: Ex-military Chief Arrested Over Plot

Published January 6, 2012 5:00AM (EST)

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's state-run news agency says a former military chief has been arrested for allegedly attempting to destabilize Turkey's Islamic-rooted government through an Internet campaign.

Anadolu Agency says Friday a court ordered Gen. Ilker Basbug arrested pending trial. That makes him the most senior officer to be jailed in a series of investigations into alleged plots to bring down Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.

The arrest came hours after Basbug testified to prosecutors in a case in which the military is alleged to have funded websites aimed at discrediting the government in 2009.

Some of the suspects, including senior generals and admirals, have said they acted in a chain of command. Basbug led the military at the time. He retired in August 2010.


By Salon Staff

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