| Weak morale or principled opposition to current trends? I vote for the latter -- at some point it becomes clear that working from within just isn't going to work. |
The cases are part of an effort by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, in power for a decade, to stamp out "anti-democratic forces" and bring to heel the once-supreme military, which regularly interfered in politics and staged three outright coups in 1960, 1971 and 1980. Erdogan has received praise at home and abroad for bringing the military under civilian control.But the years that defendants spend in prison without conviction have raised suspicions the conspiracy trials are aimed at muzzling opposition, with even some sympathizers saying the number of officers charged has spiraled out of control. The detentions have sapped morale in NATO's second-biggest army, which has been fighting a three-decade-old insurgency against Kurdish militants in the southeast and trying to prevent a spillover of the civil war in neighboring Syria.
The latest reported resignations by 110 air force officers prompted a statement from the office of the chief of general staff, which rarely talks to the media, refuting suggestions that the military had been weakened. January and February were the normal period for military officers to submit voluntary resignations or early retirement requests, the statement said.
Erdogan said late on Wednesday the departures were routine and described suggestions the army had been weakened as "ugly", although he acknowledged last month that lengthy pre-trial detentions were sapping army morale, an apparent bid to distance himself from increasingly unpopular coup trials.
About 100 journalists are also in prison, as well as thousands of activists, lawyers, politicians and others. Most are accused of plotting against the government or supporting outlawed Kurdish militants.