Turkish police detained former heads of the air force and navy on February 22, among other retired and serving military officers held in an investigation into an alleged plot to undermine the democratically elected government and trigger a military coup in Turkey.
More than 40 people were detained including former Air Force Commander Ybrahim Fyrtyna, former Naval Commander Özden Örnek, ex-Deputy Chief of the General Staff General Ergin Saygun and former Commander of the First Army Çetin Dodan as a part of an operation in Turkey's major cities Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and Bursa.
The suspects held in Ankara, Izmir and Bursa were flown to Istanbul for questioning.
The detained commanders are accused of plotting a plan called "Sledgehammer" and "Cage" aimed at destabilizing the AK Party government and `justifying' an army takeover in 2003 and eradicate civil movements in Turkey.
Sledgehammer plot, denied by the military, has allegedly been prepared to provoke a crisis with Turkey's neighbor Greece and plant bombs in mosques in Istanbul to stir a chaos. The Sledgehammer plan, revealed in January by a Turkish newspaper, was more than simply an outline of a plan to kill or injure various bureaucrats, journalists and the government. It included a plot to bomb one of Ystanbul's largest mosques during Friday prayer and a subplot named Oraj (Thunderstorm) that called for the deliberate downing of a Turkish jet to trigger problems with Greece, which the conspirators hoped would give the army the upper hand in politics as the public would feel threatened by a foreign enemy.
Two of the detained Generals Fyrtyna and Örnek had already testified to civilian prosecutors in a probe into an alleged criminal network, "Ergenekon", a clandestine gang charged with plotting to overthrow the government.
There was also a search at the Turkish Armed Forces Mehmetçik Foundation's Istanbul representative office, in Istanbul's Caddebostan neighborhood. The search continued throughout the day. The police reportedly made copies of files found on the foundation's computers.
Police said the operation yesterday was launched when the National Police Department's criminal investigations department examined and verified the authenticity of documents regarding the Sledgehammer and Cage plans. The original documents were handed to the Ergenekon prosecutors by the Taraf daily, which exposed both plans.
The judicial process constitutes a milestone of civil-military relations and consolidation of democracy in Turkey as the EU accession negotiations continue.