| Submit your comments on this article |
| Europe |
| Turkey: Union leader among new arrests in coup probe |
| 2009-01-27 |
| (AKI) - A union leader was charged in an Istanbul court on Monday bringing to 18 the number of new suspects accused of planning a military coup against the Turkish government. Turkish media reports said that the 18 were among 26 people detained by police around the country as part of the controversial Ergenekon investigation. They also searched the offices of a private TV channel and a union in the capital Ankara. Turkish Metal Union chairman Mustafa Ozbek, seven military officers and ten police officers were charged by the court, while the other eight, including Turkish union executives, were released without charge. Meanwhile three other suspects who had been held under arrest for nearly a year as part of the Ergenekon investigation were released by the Istanbul High Crime Court on Saturday. A poll released on Monday showed that close to half the Turkish nation believes that Ergenekon was established to overthrow the government through a military coup. But one in five Turks thinks the investigation is simply being used to suppress the opposition. According to the nationwide poll of 2,400 people, 49.3 percent of respondents identified Ergenekon as a case in which "crime gangs and military coup plotters are trialled". The Ergenekon probe is seen as one of the most controversial cases in Turkey's history. It was launched in 2007 after the discovery of hand grenades in a house in Istanbul. More than 80 people, including journalists, intellectuals, union leaders, business leaders, army officers, police officers, and retired generals, are charged with forming an illegal, clandestine organisation in a bid to pave the way for a military coup. The group is accused of terrorist acts in Turkey and of allegedly planning a coup in 2009. The alleged masterminds behind this coup plot are generals Kemal Yavuz and Tuncer Kilinc. Both were arrested recently. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-01-27 23:50 |
| #2 |
| Posted by: Jimmy Hoffa 2009-01-27 11:44 |
| #1 |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2009-01-27 03:45 |