Turkey’s former armed forces chief raised a clenched fist and waved to supporters when he faced terrorism charges yesterday in a historic trial demonstrating the ebbing power of an army that once ranged above the country’s political leaders.
Gen Ilker Basbug, chief of staff from 2008 to 2010, exchanged salutes with former colleagues during a short break in a trial encroaching on sensitive territory in a country that saw three coups in the second half of the 20th century.
“The Turkish army has never been defeated,” one fellow officer said to Gen Basbug. “Of course. All this will pass,” Gen Basbug, dressed in a dark civilian suit, replied.
The court, sitting in the Silivri high security prison complex, underlined the fall of the military at the start of proceedings by denying Basbug’s opening appeal to have his case considered by the Supreme Court. Gen Basbug is accused of being a leader of a shadowy network dubbed “Ergenekon”, which was behind a string of alleged plots against the government of prime minister Tayyip Erdogan. – (Reuters)