Turkey releases military chiefs wanted over coup plot

Ex-Air Force head Gen Ibrahim Firtina was among those questioned

A Turkish court has freed the former heads of the navy and air force after they were questioned over an alleged coup plot, Anatolia news agency said.

It was unclear whether the two men - arrested on Monday with more than 40 other officers - face charges.

Some 20 senior military officers have been charged and remanded in custody this week over the suspected 2003 plot.

Earlier, President Abdullah Gul said tensions over the plot would be resolved within the law.

President Gul made the statement after a summit with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and armed forces chief Gen Ilker Basbug.

Tension between the government and the military has risen following a round of arrests over the alleged plot.

The military has denied any coup plot and has held its own officers' summit to discuss the "serious situation" in the wake of the latest arrests.

Reassurance

The retired head of the air force Ibrahim Firtina and former navy chief Ozden Ornek were in court on Thursday morning for questioning, but were later released.

HOW 'COUP PLOTS' EMERGED June 2007: Cache of explosives discovered; ex-soldiers detained July 2008: 20 arrested, including two ex-generals and a senior journalist, for "planning political disturbances and trying to organise a coup" July 2008: Governing AK Party narrowly escapes court ban October 2008: 86 go on trial charged with "Ergenekon" coup plot July 2009: 56 in dock as second trial opens Jan 2010: Taraf newspaper reports 2003 "sledgehammer" plot to provoke coup Feb 2010: More than 40 officers arrested over "sledgehammer"; 20 charged

After several hours of talks on Thursday, Mr Gul sought to reassure the country.

"It was stressed that citizens can be sure that the problems on the agenda will be solved within the framework of the constitution and our laws," a statement from his office said.

The BBC's Jonathan Head in Istanbul says the Turkish government is embroiled in the greatest test yet of its authority over the armed forces.

Turkey's military has overthrown or forced the resignation of four governments since 1960 - most recently in 1997 - though Gen Basbug has insisted that coups are a thing of the past.

The scale of Monday's operation against the military was unprecedented. Those arrested include two serving admirals, three retired admirals and three retired generals.

Turkey's religious-secular divide Turkish military faces crossroads

A number of them are being kept in jail.

Dozens of current or former members of the military have been arrested in the past few years over similar plot allegations, and some have been charged.

The latest men to be charged were arrested over the so-called "sledgehammer" plot, which reportedly dates back to 2003.

Reports of the alleged plot first surfaced in the liberal Taraf newspaper, which said it had discovered documents detailing plans to bomb two Istanbul mosques and provoke Greece into shooting down a Turkish plane over the Aegean Sea.

The army has said the scenarios were discussed but only as part of a planning exercise at a military seminar.

The alleged plot is similar, and possibly linked, to the reported Ergenekon conspiracy, in which military figures and staunch secularists allegedly planned to foment unrest, leading to a coup.

Scores of people, including military officers, journalists and academics, are on trial in connection with that case.

'Painful transformation'

Analysts say the crackdown on the military would have been unthinkable only a few years ago.

The army has regarded itself as the guardian of a secular Turkish state, but its power has been eroded in recent years, with Turkey enacting reforms designed to prepare it for entry to the European Union.

Many Turks regard the cases as the latest stage in an ongoing power struggle between Turkey's secular nationalist establishment and the governing AK Party.

Critics believe the Ergenekon and sledgehammer investigations are simply attempts to silence the government's political and military opponents.

The AK Party has its roots in political Islam, and is accused by some nationalists of having secret plans to turn staunchly secular Turkey into an Islamic state.

The government rejects those claims, saying its intention is to modernise Turkey and move it closer to EU membership.

"Transformations may sometimes be painful," Economy Minister Ali Babacan said Wednesday.

"We are trying to make Turkey's democracy first class."