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Turkish General Staff holds emergency meeting in connection with officersâ€™ arrest

08 January 2009 10:00 (UTC +04:00)

Ankara â€“ APA. Turkish General Staff is concerned over the arrest of retired generals and some officers in connection with Ergenekon. APA reports quoting Turkish media that the army leadership held an emergency meeting in the Turkish general staff headquarters. Chief of Turkish General Staff Ilker Basbugh chaired 6.5-hour meeting. Commander of Turkish Land Forces Ishik Koshaner, commander of Air Defense Forces Aydogan Babaoglu and commander of Gendarmerie Forces Atilla Ishik attended the meeting. Commander of Maritime Forces Metin Atach missed the meeting, because he was not in the capital. Lawyer officers of the headquarters were also called to the meeting. The General Staff discussed the officers accused of setting up a terrorist organization and staging coup. No official statement was made concerning the meeting. On the initiative of Ilker Basbughâ€™s wife Sevil Basbugh, the wives of army commanders met with former secretary of Security Council Tunjer Kilinjâ€™s wife.
Ilker Basbugh will have a traditional weekly meeting with President Abdullah Gul today. He is expected to express the concern of the army leadership at the meeting.