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Turkish prosecutor wants general
probed-reports
6.3.2006
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ANKARA, March 6
(Reuters) - A Turkish prosecutor has called for a
senior general to be probed over allegations he
abused his post and tried to set up an illegal group
to wreck Turkey's European Union entry talks, media
reports said on Monday.
No one from the prosecutor's office or military
headquarters was available to comment, but a
newspaper quoted General Yasar Buyukanit, the head
of Turkish land forces, as saying he was prepared to
defend himself in court.
"If I am put on trial for such a reason I will
appear in court and defend myself," Buyukanit was
quoted as telling the newspaper Hurriyet.
Media reports said the chief prosecutor in eastern
Van province, Ferhat Sarikaya, had asked the chief
of general staff to investigate Buyukanit for
backing the operations of a secret organisation.
Buyukanit served in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey
between 1997 and 2000. The separatist Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK), alleging persistent
discrimination, launched an armed struggle for an
ethnic homeland in the region in 1984 in which more
than 30,000 people have died.
The European Union opened membership negotiations
with Turkey last year and insists on better
recognition of the rights of the country's Kurds if
Turkey is to join the 25-member bloc.
The Van prosecutor said the illegal group's
activities included blowing up a bookshop in the
southeastern town of Semdinli last November with the
aim of provoking the government into blocking
further freedoms for Kurds, thus jeopardising EU
membership talks.
INFLUENCING COURTS
Sarikaya also accused Buyukanit of trying to
influence the courts by praising a soldier who has
been charged in connection with the Semdinli blast.
The bookshop blast killed one person and triggered
clashes between pro-Kurdish demonstrators and
Turkish security forces in which several more people
were killed.
Bombing suspects detained by the police turned out
to be intelligence agents of the gendarmerie -- a
paramilitary force responsible for rural security --
fuelling suspicions that some military men might be
trying to steer political developments.
A court has ordered the arrest of two members of the
gendarmerie as part of the investigation into the
bombing.
Buyukanit has in the past rejected claims that the
bookshop bombers may have acted on the orders of
military commanders in Ankara.
The NTV news channel said the chief of general
staff, Hilmi Ozkok, was disturbed by the allegations
against Buyukanit and was considering defending him
and filing a complaint against the Van prosecutor
for "exceeding the boundaries of his authority".
The armed forces have in the past officially said
they support Turkey's EU bid, but some generals have
voiced concern that reforms demanded by Brussels
might be abused by Islamists and Kurdish
separatists.
TV stations said Ozkok would meet Prime Minister
Tayyip Erdogan later on Monday and that they were
expected to discuss the allegations against
Buyukanit.
Earlier in the day Ozkok met army commanders
including Buyukanit, who is likely to take over as
chief of general staff when Ozkok's term expires on
Aug. 30.
Reuters
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