Turkish armed forces commander General Isik Kosaner and Turkeys army, navy and air force chiefs stepped down on Friday evening in protest against the jailing of 250 officers on charges of conspiring against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government. The resignations marked a significant power shift in Turkey, where the army has deposed four governments in less than half a century. In a letter addressed to his brothers in arms, Kosaner said he could not continue in his post when he could not protect his staff from flawed and baseless legal prosecutions. They are trying to portray the military as a terrorist organization, Kosaner said, referring to the legal proceedings that have seen 250 officers arrested since 2008 on suspicion of having ties with the clandestine Ergenekon ultra-nationalist organization, which is accused of plotting to overthrow the government and of committing terrorist acts. None of the accused officers have been convicted. Erdogan quickly replaced Kosaner with former military police commander Gen. Necdet Ozel, who is considered close to the prime minister. Meanwhile, President Abdullah Gul acted to assure the public that the nation was running business as usual. Following his resignation, Kosaner met with Erdogan and Gul in an attempt to obviate any unrest during the transition of military authority. Turkish land forces commander Gen. Erdal Ceylanoglu, air force commander Gen. Hasan Aksay and navy commander Admiral Ugir Yigit handed in their resignations together with Kosaner. The move came just days before Turkey's annual appointment of new officers, which was set to take place on Monday but now will likely be delayed. Last year's appointments were a point of contention between Erdogan and Kosaner, as Erdogan rejected most of the candidates for their alleged involvement in anti-government activities. Turkey's Hurriyet attributed Ozel's hasty promotion to his need to receive a new list of potential candidates for this year's appointments. Since coming to power nine years ago, Erdogan has systematically acted to diminish the military's influence. On Saturday, Erdogan said he intended to change Turkish laws put in place after the country's 1960 military coup to make Turkey more democratic. It is an open secret that Erdogan is interested in switching to a more presidential form of government, raising speculation that Erdogan intends to become president once his third and final term as prime minister is over. There are also concerns among secular Turks that the ruling AK party, for all its talk of democracy and pluralism, will seek to shape a constitution around its own socially conservative values. Barak: Turkey is important to us It would be in Israel's interest to have better relations with Turkey, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Saturday during a meeting with officials in Washington. Turkey's relations with Syria and Lebanon, as well as its role in the Gaza Strip, are crucial to Israel, Barak said. He added that Israel's legal advisers have stressed the importance of working with Turkey in order to avoid lawsuits against Israeli officers and soldiers.
