12/02/2011 11:09
Turkey: court orders arrest of 163 suspects in Sledgehammer case
A Turkish court late Friday evening ordered arrest of 163 suspects in the Sledgehammer coup case, a subversive plot allegedly prepared by a clique inside the military that included plans to crash Turkish jets and bomb large mosques at busy prayer hours to undermine the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) with the hope of eventually overthrowing it.
133 of the suspects including former Air Forces Commander Gen. Halil İbrahim Fırtına and former Naval Forces Commander Adm. Özden Örnek were arrested in the courthouse on Friday. The court issued arrest warrants about 30 suspects who did not attend in the trial including former 1st Army head retired Gen. Çetin Doğan.
The arrests came on Friday during a hearing of the Sledgehammer case. The case is being heard at the İstanbul 10th High Criminal Court, Today’s Zaman reports.