Turkey`s military says plot report is smear campaign

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey`s top general said on Friday that allegations of a military plot to undermine the government were part of a campaign to divide the armed forces and offered a guarantee he would never tolerate coup activities.
Liberal Turkish newspaper Taraf published last week what it said was a document drafted by a navy colonel on stopping the ruling AK Party and a religious movement from "destroying Turkey`s secular order and replacing it by an Islamist state."
The controversy has raised tensions between the military and the AK Party, which has roots in political Islam but also embraces center-right and nationalist forces. The army has removed three government in the last 50 years and sees itself as the ultimate guarantor of Turkey`s secular political system.
"We see this piece of paper as part of an organized smear campaign to weaken the military. This is an attempt to stir up and divide the military," General Ilker Basbug told a rare news conference.
"The military does not shelter those that would engage in (coup) activities. I give my guarantee as the chief of the Turkish armed forces."
Markets have so far reacted calmly to the row, seeing little risk of a military coup against the AK Party, but are closely following developments. Bonds, stocks and the lira firmed on Friday as hopes of a fresh loan deal with the IMF supported sentiment.
At the news conference, Basbug urged civilian courts to find out who was behind the document.
Turkey`s military has seen its public influence wane in recent years as the Muslim country has pushed liberal reforms aimed at winning membership of the European Union.
Senior retired officers and serving military are amongst those arrested in connection with a separate coup plot allegation. The military denies any link to what is known as the "Ergenekon" plot involving a campaign of bombings and assassinations to precipitate a military takeover.
The AK Party, which denies any secret Islamist agenda, has been at odds with a conservative secularist establishment including generals, judges and academics over the direction of the country.
Original article