Almanar
26/02/2010 Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the army Friday that no one should consider themselves above the law, as 18 more soldiers were charged for involvement in an alleged 2003 coup plot, the NTV news channel reported Friday.
The operation was carried out in 13 provinces and one of the suspects detained was the head of the paramilitary force in the central province of Konya, the report added. An Istanbul court has so far charged 31 retired and active-duty soldiers in the investigation.
"Those who make plans behind closed doors to crush the people's will must see that from now on they will face justice," Erdogan told a gathering of his Justice and Development Party (AKP). "No one is above law, no one has impunity," he said, without directly referring to the massive investigation into the alleged coup.
The prime minister also dismissed opposition criticism that his AKP party was becoming more authoritarian and had moved to discredit the military, seen as the bulwark of Turkey's secular system. "No one should have doubts and fears," he said. "Turkey's direction is obvious... Turkey is moving towards an advanced democracy... Turkey is advancing on the way to European Union accession." He said the coup investigation was a sign of Turkey's improving democracy.
"What is happening today is normalization... These are the footsteps of an advanced democracy," he said. "Yes, this process is painful, but it will be for the good of our people of 72 million," he said.
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