Former head of the Turkish armed forces General Ilker Basbug has been remanded in custody to face charges over an alleged plot to overthrow the government. The former army chief was taken to Istanbul’s Silivri prison early on Friday morning after a health check. “The Republic of Turkey’s 26th general chief of staff has been remanded in custody for forming and directing a terrorist group. I leave it to the great Turkish nation to judge,” Basbug said as he was lead from the courtroom. Gen Ilker Basbug, who retired in 2010, is the highest-ranking officer to be caught up in a widening probe into the so-called Ergenekon network. Prosecutors say in 2003, the hardline nationalist group tried to bring down PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government. Gen Basbug rejects the allegations. Some 400 suspects are already on trial. “We can say it is really tragicomic to accuse somebody who commands such an army of forming and directing a terrorist group,” Turkey’s NTV network quoted Gen Basbug as telling prosecutors. “To hear such an allegation hurts my pride as a general who has done his duty to the country and state with honour. Accusing a chief of general staff of forming a terrorist group is the biggest punishment I could be given,” he was quoted as saying. Basbug’s lawyer said he would challenge the decision to jail him pending trial, state-run Anatolian news agency reported. The Ergenekon trial is one of several involving accusations of anti-government plots by the military and secular establishment. Some military officers already charged in the case have said they acted in a chain of command. Turkish state-run media said it is the first time a former army chief has been referred to a court as a suspect.
