Turkish PM, army meet to appoint new high command

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan met Turkey's military top brass yesterday to choose a new high command after the most senior generals in NATO's second-biggest armed forces quit in protest over arrests of officers linked to alleged coup plots. Long-running strains between the secularist military and Islamist-rooted government boiled over on Friday when Chief of General Staff Isik Kosaner stepped down, along with the army, navy and air force commanders. The resignations will enable Erdogan to consolidate control over a once-omnipotent military, which has staged a series of coups since 1960 but whose power has been curbed by EU-backed reforms since pushing an Islamist-led government from power in 1997. At the heart of the matter is the alleged "Sledgehammer" plot, based on events at a 2003 military seminar. Officers say evidence against them has been fabricated and that allegations concern what was merely a war games exercise. Erdogan launched the four-day Supreme Military Council (YAS) meeting yesterday and then joined the generals in paying respects to modern Turkey's soldier-statesman founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, visiting his imposing mausoleum high on a hill above the capital. Erdogan strode into the mausoleum in front of the generals and placed a wreath in front of Ataturk's tomb, before standing briefly in silence, a regular traditional ceremony which marks state occasions. Only nine of the 14 generals who would normally attend the YAS meeting were there. Aside from the four who resigned on Friday, another commander was missing because he is in jail. Erdogan sat alone at the head of the table where normally he would sit beside the chief of staff. Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz also attended the meeting. Erdogan has moved quickly to designate former gendarmerie chief General Necdet Ozel as acting chief after Kosaner quit, but he is not expected to be confirmed as the overall commander until the key promotions are announced on Thursday. The prime minister was due to meet General Ozel at 2 pm. Financial markets shrugged off the resignations in early yesterday trade, focusing instead on the last-minute deal reached in the United States to avoid a debt default. Timothy Ash, an analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland, who was visiting Turkey over the past week, noted that initial fears that the resignations might lead to a broader clash between the military and the government had faded. "The consensus over the weekend is that the resignations mark the final end of the military's dominant position in Turkish society and finally show civilian control over the military has been established," Ash wrote in a note yesterday. President Abdullah Gul has denied any crisis and Erdogan's regular address to the nation on Saturday focused on plans for a new constitution in the EU-candidate country, touted as a democratic model for a region in turmoil. But the walkout has clouded the start of Erdogan's third term in office after his AK Party won 50 percent of the vote in a parliamentary election in June. It also risks deepening a polarization between government supporters and opponents at a time when Erdogan should be seeking consens us for proposed constitutional changes. The election result, however, showed that voters cared more about the economy than criticism that Erdogan was amassing too much power. The YAS, which meets twice yearly to decide key promotions, faces a challenge in filling top military posts as the government opposes some leading candidates while others are on trial accused of trying to overthrow the government. Among those at the YAS was Aegean Army commander General Nusret Tasdeler, whose attendance had been uncertain after prosecutors ordered his arre st last week among 21 others over claims the military set up anti-government websites, a case seen as a factor in the walkout by Kosaner and the other generals. The most keenly awaited issue is who will be appointed to head the land forces command," said Milliyet columnist Fikret Bila, who has close links to the military. Potential candidate General Saldiray Berk is likely to be ruled out as he is a defendant in a trial related to "Ergenekon", an alleged secret network intent on undermining the ruling AK party. President Gul, a former AK government minister, is ill-disposed to appointing two other generals, one who refused to shake the hand of his headscarved wif e, and another who when serving northern Cyprus had refused to meet Gul, media said. If seniority is not respected, there could be further retirement requests," Bila said. The commander of Turkey's military academies, General Bilgin Balanli, previously in line to take over the air force, is in jail. He is among 200 officers charged with involvement over the alleged "Sledgehammer" coup plot. The turmoil within the military has led to low morale and an atmosphere of suspicion over who is helping prosecutors gather evidence, which must concern Turkey's NATO partners. Speaking in Kabul late on Sunday, however, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it was an internal issue for Turkey and there appeared to be an orderly transition, with Kosaner's successor already designated. "I've seen no indication in any of this that the mil-to-mil relationship (with the United States) has been affected at all. And it is a very strong relationship," Mullen said