26 Feb 2010

President and PM meet general over coup plot

6:06 am on 26 February 2010

The president and prime minister of Turkey have met the head of the armed forces to discuss a military plot that has led to many arrests.

Earlier, more senior military officers were charged with conspiring to overthrow the government seven years ago. Forty others were arrested this week.

The BBC reports tension is rising between the government and the military.

After several hours of discussions with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and General Ilker Basbug, President Abdullah Gul said on Thursday all problems should be solved within the constitution.

Reports of a plot first surfaced in a liberal newspaper, Taraf, which said it had discovered documents detailing plans to bomb two Istanbul mosques and provoke Greece into shooting down a Turkish plane over the Aegean Sea.

The army has said the scenarios were discussed, but only as part of a planning exercise at a military seminar.

The military has denied any coup plot. It has overthrown or forced the resignation of four governments since 1960