Turkish ex-army chief ordered held in jail for trial

ISTANBUL: A Turkish court ordered a former armed forces chief to be remanded in custody overnight pending trial charged with bidding to overthrow the government, an unprecedented move likely to exacerbate long-running tensions with the military.

General Ilker Basbug, who retired in 2010, is the highest-ranking officer to be caught up in the so-called Ergenekon case, a long-running crackdown on EU candidate Turkey's once all-powerful military and secularist establishment.

Basbug told the court on Thursday he rejected the allegations, according to broadcaster NTV, describing the Turkish Armed Forces as one of the most powerful in the world.

After a health check he was set to be taken to prison to spend a first night behind bars - a first for a former head of the military.

The decision to send Basbug to jail came hours after prominent Turkish journalists on trial over alleged ties to the ultra-nationalist Ergenekon network said the charges against them were politically motivated and "a massacre of justice" in a case that has raised concerns over media freedom in Turkey.

Investigations into Ergenekon have spiralled since they first opened in 2007, and critics accuse Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government of scaremongering to silence opponents. The government denies any such motives.

Several hundred suspects, including retired senior military officers, academics, lawyers and journalists, have been detained in cases related to it.

Basbug was facing preliminary charges of "gang leadership" and seeking to unseat the government by force, state-run Anatolian news agency reported.

Earlier Basbug, the first former chief of the armed forces to testify as a suspect in a criminal case in a civilian court, arrived at the Istanbul courthouse, looking relaxed in a dark suit, to answer questions from prosecutors in a closed session.