Turkish police arrested four more army officers today in a widening investigation into a possible coup plot that has increased tension between the Islamist-rooted government and secularists.
The case, known as Ergenekon, has affected financial markets in the EU candidate country and threatens to plunge Turkey into a fresh bout of political instability at a time when the global economic crisis has slowed growth and foreign investment.
The two colonels and two lieutenants were arrested in Istanbul for alleged links to a right-wing organisation suspected of plotting to overthrow the AK Party government, state Anatolian news service reported.
Two other officers detained earlier this week as part of the investigation were released, Anatolian said.
Eighty-six people including retired army officers, politicians and lawyers are on trial in a case that has opened the once untouchable military to judicial investigation.
Armed Forces chief General Ilker Basbug held crisis talks with Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday after 40 people, including three retired generals, were detained a day earlier. The talks sparked panic selling on the stock exchange and a call for calm from the country's leading business association.
In a new twist, investigators discovered a cache of grenades and bullets linked to the Ergenekon group buried at a picnic area outside Ankara, Turkish media said today.
The cache was discovered after police found a sketch in the house of a former police chief, media said.
Television stations, consumed by the case, have been broadcasting non-stop images of diggers excavating wooded areas.
Analysts warn that the Ergenekon probe may be explosive in a country with a long history of political and economic instability.
Reuters