Ex-chief of Turkish general staff arrested.

Turkey arrested the ex-chief of General Staff Ilker Basbug, the first head of the military to be arrested in the republic’s history, for alleged ties to the Ergenekon group that prosecutors say sought to topple the government, the state-run Anatolia news agency said today.

Basbug was taken to Silivri jail to the west of Istanbul and his lawyer Ilkay Sezer said they will appeal the court’s decision, according to the Ankara-based agency. Basbug denied the charges, calling them “tragi-comic,” it said.

The former military chief testified as a suspect for seven hours in Istanbul yesterday, answering questions about his knowledge of websites that spread propaganda against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. After his deposition, special prosecutor Cihan Kansiz asked the court to arrest the former military chief on charges of being a commander of a terrorist organization and seeking to overthrow the government using force and violence.

Soldiers gave conflicting testimonies during the trial, Hurriyet newspaper reported. Some officers implicated Basbug, saying he was aware of the plans to set up the websites against Erdogan, while one officer testified that approval for the plans to fight Islamist threats came from another, subordinate general, according to Hurriyet.

More than 250 military officers are in jail as part of the Balyoz, or Sledgehammer, and Ergenekon cases that also imprisoned scores of journalists, politicians and academics for alleged coup plots.