Two officers charged in Turkish coup probe

Two military officers were charged at the weekend over a coup plot, Turkish media said on Monday, part of a crackdown that has caused tension between the Islamist-rooted government and the secularist military.                                           

More than 30 officers, including two retired generals, face charges in connection with an alleged plot in 2003 to overthrow prime minister Tayyip Erdogan's government.                                            

A Muslim country with a secular constitution, NATO-member Turkey wants to strengthen its democratic credentials to support its bid to join the European Union.                                           

The detention of senior members of the armed forces has shaken markets in a country where the military has a long history of intervention in politics. However, the lira currency, stocks and bond prices strengthened in early trading on Monday, following through on a recovery begun on Friday.                                           

The state-run news agency Anatolian said Colonel Huseyin Ozcoban, commander of the paramilitary gendarmerie force in the city of Konya, and Lieutenant Colonel Yusuf Kelleli were charged late on Sunday in an Istanbul court.                                           

The two were detained in an unprecedented investigation last week that prompted an emergency meeting of political and military leaders.                                           

Erdogan held talks with the chief of General Staff, General Ilker Basbug, in a meeting billed as an early session of their regular weekly consultations which usually take place on Thursday. Last Thursday, they and president Abdullah Gul met in an attempt to defuse tension over the coup investigation.