Turkish ex-army chief quizzed in anti-govt case

A former chief of Turkey's powerful armed forces testified in court on Thursday as a suspect in an investigation of an alleged Internet campaign to discredit Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party — a move unthinkable a few years ago.
General Ilker Basbug, who retired in 2010, is the highest-ranking officer to be caught up in a widening probe into the so-called Ergenekon network, an ultra-nationalist group accused by prosecutors of conspiring to topple the government.
Looking relaxed in a dark suit, he arrived at an Istanbul court beside the Bosphorus strait to answer questions from prosecutors in a closed session .
It was the first time a former chief of the armed forces has testified as a suspect in a criminal case in a civilian court.
Several hundred defendants, including retired senior officers, lawyers, academics and journalists, have been put on trial in cases relating to the investigation.
Nicknamed pashas, a title dating back to Ottoman times, Turkey's once untouchable generals have seen their influence decline as Ankara pushes reforms aimed at strengthening civilian rule and winning Turkey's accession to the European Union.
Turkey's military, NATO's second-largest army, has long seen itself as the guarantor of the country's secular constitution, and had carried out three coups between 1960 and 1980 and pressured another government from power in 1997.
The Ergenekon case is seen as part of a power struggle between AK, which has roots in a banned Islamist party and swept to power in 2002, and an old secularist establishment including military officers, lawyers, journalists and politicians.
The current investigation, carried out by state prosecutors, centres on allegations Turkey's military set up websites to spread anti-government propaganda to destabilise Turkey.
The court case is open and defendants are already on trial, but there was no hearing on Thursday. Basbug remains a suspect only and has not been charged.
Chief of general staff from 2008 to 2010, he has in the past said reports of military plots to undermine the government were part of a smear campaign to divide the armed forces and pledged he would never tolerate coup activities.
The "Internet Memorandum" case is just one of many strands of investigations into Ergenekon that began five years ago.
Opposition parties have accused the government of using Ergenekon to go after AK's critics. The government denies this.
Retired General Hilmi Ozkok, also a former chief of the general staff, testified in the Ergenekon case in 2009 but only as a witness, not a suspect.