A Turkish court jailed seven military commanders on Tuesday over an alleged plan to overthrow the democratically elected government.
Two active-duty admirals, two retied admirals, one retired general and two retired colonels were among those put behind bars, after appearing in court, state-owned Anatolian news agency reported. Two of those arrested were admirals on active duty.
The discovery of plans allegedly drafted by the military members in 2003 designed to topple the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) led to the detention of about 50 active duty and retired members of the military on February 22.
The detainees were questioned over their suspected links to the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) and Kafes (Cage) coup plots. The subversive plots included blowing up mosques during Friday prayers, attacking museums with bombs and other explosives during a visit by young students, and turning stadiums into open-air prisons capable of holding tens of thousands of people if they challenged the coup troops.
On Tuesday evening, Chief of General Staff Gen. Ylker Ba_bud gathered military generals at an extraordinary meeting at the General Staff in the Turkish capital.
Tuesday's meeting was attended by 15 generals on active duty. A statement posted on the General Staff Web site saying that the meeting intended to evaluate the "serious situation" that had erupted as part of an investigation being conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.
International reactions voice respect for the rule of law and transparency regarding the ongoing judicial process in Turkey as the investigations go deeper.
The European Union Commission has mentioned that the bloc keeps a close watch on the developments, having great worry about the alleged coup plots. Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule has said Turkish people have the right to know all the truth concerning the cases. He said "the investigations should be conducted in line with principles of fair trial".
The Spokesman of US State Department has said Washington pays great attention to Turkey and the Turkish government as "the process should be run transparently in accordance with Turkish law."