Turkey Reverses Female Army Officers' Headscarf Ban

BBC: A ban on female army officers in Turkey wearing the Muslim headscarf has been lifted by the government.

The military is the last Turkish institution to see the ban removed. It has long been seen as the guardian of Turkey's secular constitution.

Turkey has a secular constitution dating from the days of Kemal Ataturk, founder of the modern republic, who did not like women covering their heads.

Wearing headscarves in public institutions was banned in the 1980s. » | Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Turkey Generals Accused of Links to 2003 Istanbul Bombing
THE TELEGRAPH: Three retired Turkish military leaders have been accused of helping to plan the 2003 Istanbul bombing which claimed 60 lives including three Britons.

Three of Turkey's most senior former military leaders have been accused of plotting a coup. Photo: The Telegraph
The men are alleged to have plotted with al-Qaeda to carry out the attack in the hope of destabilising the government and paving the way for a military coup.

Prosecutors suspect the former heads of the air force, navy and Turkish 1st army were linked to attacks on the British consulate, HSBC headquarters and synagogues.

Roger Short, the consul general in Istanbul, was killed in the attack on the Charles Barry-designed Italianate Palace in the heart of Istanbul in November 2003. Lisa Hallworth, from Denton, Greater Manchester, and former airline worker Nanette Elizabeth Kurma, from Drongan, Ayrshire, were also killed in the blast.

Although an al-Qaeda linked group claimed responsibility for the attack at the time, there have always been questions over its ability to source bomb making materials and evade security controls in a country with a powerful security force.

Investigators claim the bombings were part of "Operation Sledgehammer" which had been formulated by senior military figures eight months earlier to destabilise Turkey and trigger a military intervention to overthrow the government.

Prosecutors have arrested 35 ex-military figures in recent weeks on suspicion of being part of the plot which is also said to have involved plans to provoke Greece into shooting down a Turkish fighter jet. >>> Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Monday, March 01, 2010

High Noon in Turkey
TIMES ONLINE – Leading Article: The confrontation between Ankara and the army could prove catastrophic

Turkey, a pillar of Nato, a potential member of the European Union and a strategic Western ally in the Middle East, is today poised on the brink of disaster. If the current confrontation between the moderate Islamist Government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the military establishment provokes a coup, or spurs political and religious violence, the loss to the West, to regional stability and to the hopes for this emerging economic power would be incalculable. What is at stake is of critical importance not just to Turkey but to countries across the Muslim world: is political Islam, even in moderate guise, compatible with democracy, state authority and secular institutions?

Tensions have eased slightly since the release of three top military commanders, taken in for questioning over an alleged coup plot. But despite the Prime Minister’s crisis talks with General Ilker Basbug, the head of the armed forces, and their joint promise to resolve tensions “within the constitutional order”, fears and rumours are still sweeping the country. The stock market has fallen. Social and political divisions are hardening. A further 14 people have been questioned, bringing military arrests to almost 40. And Turks have been amazed to see serving officers, until now virtually untouchable by civilian authorities, being charged with plots to bomb mosques, provoke violence and stage a confrontation with Greece — plots that seem as cynical as they are bizarre. >>> | Monday, March 01, 2010

Turkish Army Issues Warning

Photos courtesy of the BBC

BBC: Turkey's powerful armed forces chief has warned that "centres of evil" are trying to undermine the secular state.

Gen Yasar Buyukanit did not name those who were "trying to corrode the secular nature of the Turkish Republic".

His statement comes a day before MPs are expected to elect Abdullah Gul, a former Islamist, as president. His candidacy remains highly controversial.

The army sees itself as the guardian of Turkey's secularism. It has ousted four governments in the past 60 years.

This is the second warning issued by the army in recent months. Turkish army issues new warning (more)

Turkey awaits AKP’s next step By Sarah Rainsford

Mark Alexander