Istanbul, February 24: Turkish prosecutors will on Wednesday question some of the suspects arrested over an alleged military coup plot.
The accused will also be brought before a judge to face possible charges over the alleged plot, which investigators say was designed to topple the government, the Anatolia news agency reported.
Police detained more than 40 suspects Monday over a purported plan codenamed “Operation Sledgehammer” which dated back to 2003.
The alleged plot was aimed at bringing down the Justice and Development Party (AKP) administration.
Seventeen retired generals and four active-duty admirals were among those detained on charges of “attempting to remove the government through force and violence” and brought for questioning in Istanbul, reports said.
The country’s defence chiefs held a crisis meeting Tuesday to discuss the affair.
The suspects allegedly planned to bomb mosques and escalate tensions with Greece in a bid to force the downing of a Turkish jet, thus destabilising the government and forcing its downfall.
Both US and EU officials on Tuesday stressed that the investigation be carried out following due process.
Among those arrested were ex-air force chief Ibrahim Firtina, former navy chief Ozden Ornek and the former head of the Istanbul-based First Army, Cetin Dogan, who is accused of spearheading the plot.
“Operation Sledgehammer” was exposed in January by the liberal Taraf newspaper, which said the plan was discussed in March 2003.
It published transcripts of audio tapes that appeared to confirm some kind of anti-government action was considered at the gathering.
The general staff — which has recently complained of a “psychological smear campaign” — has said the seminar involved the discussion of war-time contingency plans. It has denied there was any coup plot.
Turkey’s army has traditionally wielded heavy political influence and unseated four governments since 1960.
The last time it intervened was in 1997 when it forced prime minister Necmettin Erbakan to resign.
Turkey’s two largest opposition parties slammed the government over the latest arrests.
In 2008, the AKP narrowly escaped being banned for allegedly violating Turkey’s “secular” system.
—Agencies