Turkish police detained a top retired general on Wednesday in a third wave of arrests under an investigation of military intervention which drove the country's first Islamist-led government from power in 1997. The police sweep across Turkey was set to bring to around 50 the number of those detained in the latest of a series of judicial probes bringing top generals to account for a history of military takeovers as well as alleged coup attempts. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party, which itself has Islamist roots, has severely curbed the political influence of NATO's second biggest army since it first came to power a decade ago. State and private media said police raided addresses in the cities of Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, as well as Kars on the eastern border, targetting serving and retired officers. A police spokesman said he did not have information on the raids. Prosecutors told broadcasters that they had issued arrest warrants for seven serving officers and six retired officers. Among the first to be detained was retired general Fevzi Turkeri, former head of the gendarmerie paramilitary force, broadcaster NTV said. Police searched his home before detaining him. The military overthrew governments in 1960, 1971 and 1980. The latest probe is focused on a military-orchestrated campaign forcing Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan from office in 1997 over perceived threats to Turkey's secular order.
