Turkish ex-military chief goes on trial for 'terrorism'

Turkey's former armed forces chief raised a clenched fist and waved to supporters when he faced terrorism charges on Monday in a historic trial that demonstrates the ebbing power of an army that once ranged above political leaders in the country.

The court, sitting in the Silivri high security prison complex, underlined the fall of the military by denying General Ilker Basbug's opening appeal to have his case considered by the Supreme Court.

Basbug, chief of staff from 2008 to 2010, is accused of being a leader of a shadowy network dubbed "Ergenekon",  behind a string of alleged plots against the government of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

His lawyer, however, said at the weekend the case targeted not only Basbug, but also "the Turkish armed forces and even, in political terms, the state." The trial encroaches on sensitive territory in a country that saw three coups in the second half of the 20th centrury. The military has viewed Erdogan, a man with roots in political Islam, and his AK Party with deep suspicion since it was first elected in 2002. Since then it has built up a huge majority in parliament, reformed the judiciary and used its authority, bolstered by economic success, to strip the military of the power it has enjoyed to make or break governments.

Basbug chatted with family and friends during a break, telling them he was in good health, and exchanged salutes with former colleagues. One told him; "The Turkish army has never ben defeated."

"All this will pass" Basbug replied: "Of course! All this will pass." Basbug branded the case against him as tragi-comic when he was first detained in January. Dressed in a dark suit and tie, he was the first of 29 defendants to confirm his identity to the bench of three judges. His answers to judges were to the point. Asked where he was living, Basbug said: "Since January 6, I've been staying at Silivri prison, cell block number five."

He gave his monthly income as 7,000 lira ($3,900), and said he paid rent of around 1,000 lira on his residence in Istanbul's Fenerbahce neighborhood. Waiting for proceedings to begin, the 68-year-old retiree drummed his fingers impatiently, and sipped from a plastic water bottle on the table, without opening the leather document folder before him. The 100 or so spectators in the courtroom were dominated by well-dressed men and women from Basbug's generation.

Basbug waved to several co-defendants who called out to their former chief, and raised a clenched fist as a sign of solidarity with one old colleague also on trial. The case against Basbug features websites allegedly set up by the military to spread "black propaganda" against the government until 2008. Basbug is the most senior officer among hundreds of secularists facing conspiracy and terrorism charges. For many Turks it had appeared increasingly likely that the special prosecutors, given free rein to investigate by the government, would work their way to the top of the military chain of command in their hunt for anti-government conspiracies.

During his pre-trial detention Basbug has shared a cell with two other generals in the top-security prison at Silivri, west of Istanbul, where an extra large courtroom has been specially built to hear Ergenekon and "Sledgehammer"-related cases. Basbug's case was heard in a smaller courtroom in the same complex, as a Sledgehammer hearing was being held in the main courtroom. 1980

Police say they discovered Ergenekon when they seized a secret arms cache in 2007, yet many Turks still doubt it exists. Basbug is just a witness in the Sledgehammer case, which  revolves around a 2003 seminar that prosecutors say contained blueprints for a coup, though the military says it was just a war game. Some 365 people are being tried in the case, including the retired commander of the prestigious First Army.

Turkey's generals traditionally saw themselves as guardians of the secular state envisaged by the republic's founder, soldier-statesman Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Like the judiciary, they distrusted Erdogan and other members of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) with an Islamist past. Erdogan denies any ambitions to forge an Islamist state and insists he is commited to secular political system. The military staged three coups between 1960 and 1980 and forced an Islamist prime minister, Necmettin Erbakan, to quit in 1997.

These days, however, it is Erdogan who cracks the whip in Turkey as he enters his second decade in power. On April 4, the court in Ankara will hold the first hearing in the trial of generals who led the 1980 coup, including 94-year-old former military chief and ex-president Kenan Evren. Tension between the military and the AKP was running high in 2007 when the generals opposed the nomination of Abdullah Gul for the presidency because of his Islamist pedigree.

They never regained their clout after failing to cow Erdogan and Gul. With strong public support, the AKP government brought the military to heel with democratic reforms. Endless investigations into coup plots tarnished the image of the once untouchable top brass. Basbug has denied the charges against him, and his lawyer told Reuters earlier this month that the indictment was filled with inconsistencies and lacked credibility.