Seven senior Turkish military officers were charged Wednesday over an alleged plot to topple the Islamist-rooted government, heightening political strains and unsettling investors in the EU candidate country. Turkey's top military commanders, self-appointed guardians of its staunchly secular system, held an emergency meeting late Tuesday and warned in a statement of a “serious situation”. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan subsequently met overnight with his deputy and the interior and justice ministers after a visit to Spain. Details of the talks were not disclosed. Fears of the situation escalating are driven by a history of military intervention in politics in NATO-member Turkey although the military has said the days of military coups are over. The army has unseated four governments in the last 50 years, however similar moves are no longer seen as feasible. The power of the military has been eroded in recent years by reforms designed to facilitate Turkey's EU accession. The tensions were triggered by a dramatic police swoop on Monday that detained 50 officers in an unprecedented operation. The seven officers charged overnight are four admirals, two retired and two serving; a retired brigadier-general and two retired colonels, state-run Anatolian news agency said. They have been jailed awaiting trial.
