Officer accused in ’anti-AKP plan’ freed

Hürriyet Daily News with wires

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Col. Dursun Çiçek was arrested for suspected links to the alleged Ergenekon gang, but his name has been on the front page of newspapers since mid-June because his signature was purportedly on a document that was claimed to be a military plan to discredit the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, and the religious movement led by cleric Fethullah Gülen. 

The plan allegedly called for manipulating the media and stirring up nationalist angst against the AKP.

The military disowned the plan and said it would not prosecute Çiçek, as it was unclear if the document was genuine.

Çiçek was questioned Tuesday by the prosecutors in charge of the Ergenekon case and was then arrested later that day. Several retired and active officers have been arrested in the Ergenekon case, in which an illegal gang is accused of trying to instigate a military coup by committing a range of crimes to create social tension. Approximately 140 people are already on trial in the case, which has been going on for two years. Government and military leaders, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ, held an eight-hour meeting Tuesday to defuse tensions. The higher court decided to release Çiçek for the time being.