A former chief of Turkey's powerful armed forces was arrested early
Friday by a Turkish court after he testified on Thursday as a suspect in
an investigation of an alleged Internet campaign to discredit Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AK
Party).
General Ilker Bashbug, who retired in 2010, is the highest-ranking
officer to be caught up in a widening probe into the so-called Ergenekon
network, an ultra-nationalist group accused by prosecutors of
conspiring to topple the government.
Looking relaxed in a dark suit, he arrived at an Istanbul court beside
the Bosphorus strait to answer questions from prosecutors in a 7.5-hour
closed session.
Istanbul Specially Authorized Prosecutor Cihan Kansız and Deputy
Istanbul Chief Prosecutor Fikret Sechen interrogated the former military
chief and referred him to the 12th Istanbul High Criminal Court for
arrest.
The investigation into the propaganda websites began in 2010 based on
evidence found in the home of retired Col. Hasan Ataman Yıldırım,
another suspect in the website case. Later, an anonymous tipster from
inside the military sent an email to inform the public and prosecutors
that the General Staff had established 42 websites for the sole purpose
of disseminating propaganda about the government and religious
communities.
It was the first time a former chief of the armed forces has testified
as a suspect in a criminal case in a civilian court.
Several hundred defendants, including retired senior officers, lawyers,
academics and journalists, have been put on trial in cases relating to
the investigation.
Nicknamed pashas, a title dating back to Ottoman times, Turkey's once
untouchable generals have seen their influence decline as Ankara pushes
reforms aimed at strengthening civilian rule and winning Turkey's
accession to the European Union.
Turkey's military, NATO's second-largest army, has long seen itself as
the guarantor of the country's secular constitution, and had carried out
three coups between 1960 and 1980 and pressured another government from
power in 1997.
The current investigation, carried out by state prosecutors, centers on
allegations Turkey's military set up websites to spread anti-government
propaganda to destabilize Turkey.
The court case is open and defendants are already on trial, but there
was no hearing on Thursday. Bashbug remains a suspect only and has not
been charged.
Chief of general staff from 2008 to 2010, he has in the past said
reports of military plots to undermine the government were part of a
smear campaign to divide the armed forces and pledged he would never
tolerate coup activities.
The "Internet Memorandum" case is just one of many strands of investigations into Ergenekon that began five years ago.
Retired General Hilmi Ozkok, also a former chief of the general staff,
testified in the Ergenekon case in 2009 but only as a witness, not a
suspect.
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