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.

The resignations of Turkey’s top general, Isik Kosaner, along with the country’s navy, army and air force commanders, came hours after a court charged 22 suspects, including several generals and officers, with carrying out an internet campaign to undermine the government. The commanders asked to be retired, the state-run Anatolia news agency said.

In Brussels, a NATO spokeswoman declined to comment on the resignations. Turkey’s military is the second-largest in the 27-member alliance.

It has about 1,800 troops as part of NATO’s 140,000-strong force in Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with General Necdet Ozel, the commander of the gendarme forces — the highest-ranking commander who remained in office. Mr Ozel was widely expected to become the next head of the military and Mr Kosaner’s resignation might speed up the process.

Transportation minister Binali Yildirim said “the state would continue to function,” in the first reaction by the government.