Turkey Looks To Restore Order In Military After Top Generals Quit
General Isik Kosaner (left) stands next to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a wreath-laying ceremony with members of the Supreme Military Council in Ankara on November 30, 2010.
Turkey's military and political leaders have gathered for a meeting where they hope to restore order within NATO's second-biggest army, which was shaken by the resignation of its top four generals in protest at the jailing of hundreds of officers.
Long-running strains between Turkey's secularist military and Islamist-rooted government boiled over on July 29 when Chief of General Staff Isik Kosaner stepped down, along with the army, navy, and air force commanders -- leaving the armed forces in disarray.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is chairing a prescheduled, four-day Supreme Military Council meeting that began early on August 1 in the shadow of the departures.
Erdogan, who has rejected the idea that the exits spell crisis, has moved quickly to designate a successor to the chief of general staff post and will be keen to smooth over an argument that is being closely monitored by financial markets.