Turkish police finds weapons cache in coup plot investigation

Officers guided by map found at home of former law enforcement official detained as suspect in probe

Forensic officers search for weapons in a wooded area in central Ankara yesterday. Officers discovered hand grenades, explosives and shoulder-fired rockets buried near the capital.

By Selcan Hacaoglou - The Associated Press

ANKARA – Turkish police discovered a weapons cache buried in a pine forest yesterday during its investigation into an alleged coup plot by ultra-nationalists to overthrow the Islamic-rooted government, state-run media said.

Officers discovered hand grenades, plastic explosive, shoulder-fired rockets and ammunition buried close to a road near the capital Ankara, the state-run Anatolia news agency and private television networks said, citing police at the site.

The cache was found using a map found at the home of a former police official who was among dozens detained Wednesday on suspicion of involvement in a plot, the networks quoted unnamed police officials as saying.

Police were also digging at two sites in Ankara and in the southern city of Hatay for possible weapons, police and prosecutors said.

Eighty-six people have already gone on trial accused of being part of a group that planned a string of attacks to destabilize the country and trigger a coup in 2009 to overthrow the government. The coup was never carried out.

The indictment says the suspects planned to kill Erdogan, Nobel literature laureate Orhan Pamuk, prominent Kurdish politicians and the country’s military chief. Other charges include possessing explosives, obtaining classified documents and provoking military disobedience.

The defendants, who include 16 former army officers, a best-selling author, journalists, a former university dean and a lawyer, have denied the charges. They argue the trial was instigated by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government to silence its secular critics.

Police also discovered nine semiautomatic handguns at two houses of the police official, Ibrahim Sahin, CNN-Turk television said.

Sahin was among 40 people, who included retired generals and other serving military officers, who were detained in raids across Turkey on Wednesday.

Turkey’s military chief, General Ilker Basbug, held urgent meetings Thursday with the prime minister and president amid fears of political instability. The secular opposition accused the government of seeking vengeance against its critics.

“The investigation should not be used for domestic political gains,” Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek said yesterday. “Let the authorities fulfill their duty.”

The criminal case reflects a widening division between the country’s growing Islamic class and secular foes, some of whom have allegedly turned to violence.

The government says the trial is an opportunity to expose the influence of a shadowy network of alleged extremists with links to state institutions, including the military.

In addition police discovered dozens of hand grenades at the home of a former lieutenant colonel near Istanbul.