ISTANBUL, Jan 6 (Reuters) – Former Turkish armed
forces chief General Ilker Basbug spent his first night behind
bars on Friday, charged with trying to overthrow the government
in an unprecedented development likely to exacerbate tensions
with the military.

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.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – 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.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – 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.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – A Turkish court ordered a former chief of the powerful armed forces to be remanded in custody pending trial Thursday on charges of attempting 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.

ISTANBUL/TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran’s foreign minister has told Turkey that threats by Iranian political and military figures to strike Turkish missile defences if attacked do not represent official policy.

Ties between Turkey and Iran have been sorely tested by an uprising in Syria and Turkey’s involvement in NATO’s missile shield, which Tehran sees as a U.S. ploy to protect Israel.

ISTANBUL, Dec 9 (Reuters) – A Turkish court accepted
an indictment on Friday charging 93 soccer officials and
players, including the chairman of champions Fenerbahce, with
match-fixing in a case which has sent shockwaves through the
league.

Attention will now turn to the reaction of the Turkish
Football Federation (TFF) and European football’s ruling body
UEFA. Under sanctions so far, the TFF barred Fenerbahce from
this season’s Champions League over the allegations.

ISTANBUL, Dec 8 (Reuters) – Rare dissent surfaced
within Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party
this week after the president vetoed a new law on match-fixing,
raising questions about party unity as its leader recovers from
surgery.

The dispute emerged after President Abdullah Gul last week
sent back to parliament a revised law reducing jail sentences
for those guilty of manipulating soccer matches, a measure
coinciding with a nationwide investigation into match-rigging.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Saturday chided Arab leaders who restrict freedom of expression and said nations cannot thrive when people are not allowed to think for themselves.

“Democratic revolutions, like the ones in Tunisia, in Egypt and Libya, and the ones still unfolding in Syria and Yemen, are imbued with an entrepreneurial spirit,” Biden told a meeting of young entrepreneurs in Istanbul.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Saturday chided Arab leaders who restrict freedom of expression and warned nations cannot thrive when people are not allowed to think for themselves.

“Democratic revolutions, like the ones in Tunisia, in Egypt and Libya, and the ones still unfolding in Syria and Yemen are imbued with an entrepreneurial spirit,” Biden told an Istanbul summit to foster private sector success in the Arab world.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish security forces killed a Libyan gunman who shot and wounded two people with a pump-action rifle in the courtyard of Istanbul’s historic Topkapi Palace on Wednesday, Turkish officials said.

The assailant opened fire around the time the first visitors would normally be arriving at the lavish palace, home of Ottoman sultans for centuries and one of Istanbul’s top tourist draws. He was killed after a one-hour siege.