Turkish defence chiefs quit after army ‘plot’ arrests

THE chiefs of staff of Turkey’s military stepped down yesterday as tensions dramatically increased over the arrest of dozens of officers accused of plotting to overthrow the Islamic-rooted government.

The resignation of so many top commanders for the first time ever in Turkey, a NATO member, signals a deep rift with the government, which has been confident in confronting a military that once held sway over Turkish political life.

The arrests of high-ranking military officers would once have been unimaginable.