Top Turkish Military leaders ask for their

[deziloooooo]

retirement, after a meeting with President and PM.

Many top military leaders have been accused, arrested, charges suggest they were planning to undermine the government in power.

While the President is not in favor of radicalism, religious, the Military has always been against that, wanting a pluralistic, non religious State, the PM has been suggested that he favored a Islamic oriented State and that might be the rub here.

If so, I am wondering if Turkey is going to officially turn the corner on this secular non secular way of operating and being .
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Europe

Turkey's military chiefs 'quit'

Head of the Turkish armed forces along with heads of the ground, naval and air forces have asked for their retirement.

29 Jul 2011 15:53


This is the first time ever for so many top commanders in Turkey wanting to step down together [EPA]

General Isik Kosaner, the head of the Turkish armed forces, has quit along with the heads of the ground, naval and air forces.

The country's state-run Anatolia news agency said the military chiefs have asked to leave their posts because of tensions with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the recently re-elected prime minister.

Antolia reported Kosaner as resigning "as he saw it as necessary".

This is the first time so many top commanders in Turkey have resigned at once.

Al Jazeera Turk's Elif Ural said while there has been no official comments yet, the prime minister will be releasing a written statement within the next hour or two.

Ural said Erdogan, President Abdullah Gul and Kosaner met for 15 minutes on Friday morning and some tensions arose between the government and the military because of the meeting.

The mass resignations came hours after a court charged 22 suspects, including several generals and officers with carrying out an internet campaign to undermine the government.

The unprecedented departures come ahead of the annual spring meeting scheduled for August 1, where leaders of the government and the military come together to discuss key appointments for the next year.

Reports say Friday's news signal a deep-rooted rift between the military and the government, amid an ongoing trial accusing dozens of generals and officers for plotting to overthrow the government.

In a 2003 case called the "Sledgehammer", 17 generals and admirals in line for promotion have been jailed along with nearly 200 officers on charges of plotting to over throw the government.

More than 400 people - including academics, journalists, politicians and soldiers - are also on trial on separate charges of plotting to bring down the government.

That case is based on a conspiracy by an alleged gang of secular nationalists called "Ergenekon".