Ankara: Two former Turkish generals—General Erdal Ceylanoglu and major general Yucel Ozsir—have been detained as investigation widens into the toppling of the country’s first Islamist-led government in 1997, state media Anatolian said on Thursday.
Ceylanoglu is believed to have ordered tanks onto the streets outside the capital ahead of the military intervention 16 years ago, Reuters reported.
Dozens of military officers are already in custody ahead of the court case.
Four other retired generals were arrested two weeks ago in connection with the coup.
The two generals were taken to a maximum security prison in Sincan, a town outside Ankara where Ceylanoglu is charged with commanding tanks onto the streets during the upheaval in 1997.
The inquiry into the ousting of former prime minister Necmettin Erbakan is part of a wider extensive judicial investigation into the once-powerful Turkish military.
The 1997 coup was dubbed as the “post-modern coup” for its bloodless nature in contrast to three outright coups in 1960, 1971 and 1980.
In September, more than 300 military officers were sentenced to jail for plotting to overthrow Erdogan in 2003.
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