[JURIST] Twelve high-ranking Turkish military officers were formally charged on Wednesday for their role in an alleged plot to overthrow Turkey’s government. Among those charged were four admirals, two retired colonels, and a retired brigadier general. More than 50 officers were arrested on Monday, including former Navy Commander Adm. Ozden Ornek and former Air Force Commander Gen. Ibrahim Firtina. Turkey’s Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug is scheduled to meet with President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday to discuss the detentions. The officers are accused of participating in the 2003 Balyoz Security Operation Plan, or “Sledgehammer plot,” revealed last month by the newspaper Taraf, which included detailed plans to bomb Istanbul mosques and provoke Greece into shooting down a Turkish plane.
Turkey’s secular nationalist establishment, including the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF), has long conflicted with the ruling Justice Development Party (AKP). In July 2009, Gul approved a law that would allow the prosecution of military personnel in civilian courts and would prevent military prosecution of civilians during peacetime. Gul said that the law was necessary for accession to the European Union (EU). The Sledgehammer plot is similar to the Ergenekon conspiracy, in which the secular group is suspected of planning to overthrow the AKP. The Ergenekon group is also alleged to be involved in bombings, political assassination plots, and the death of journalist Hrant Dink. The probe into the Ergenekon conspiracy has been criticized as an attempt by the AKP to silence opposition and further its imposition of Islamic principles in violation of Turkey’s secular constitution. Trials against the Ergenekon group opened two years ago with more than 200 suspects in custody.