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Turkish army rebuffs accusations against top general

ANKARA, March 20, 2006 (AFP) - The Turkish army condemned as "baseless" Monday accusations that its number two acted outside the law in the fight against Kurdish rebels and urged the government to find those responsible for what it called a unjustified, intentional attack on its ranks.

"A grave legal mistake has been committed by directing harsh accusations against members of the Turkish armed forces...on the imaginary allegations of an individual which were not based on any evidence," the army general staff said in a statement.

The accusations against land forces commander Yasar Buyukanit came in a indictment against two soldiers and a Kurdish informer over the November 9, 2005, bombing of a bookstore in the town of Semdinli.

The attack on the shop, owned by a former Kurdish guerrilla, killed one person and sparked deadly Kurdish riots.

The indictment, seen by AFP, says the army should investigate Buyukanit for setting up a criminal organization and abuse of power during his term as regional commander in the southeast in the 1990s.

It also says the general attempted to influence the judiciary when he said after the blast in Semdinli that he knew one of the implicated soldiers to be "a good guy."

Buyukanit can be tried only with the permission of the general staff.

In a harshly-worded statement, the general staff said it saw no need to launch an investigation against Buyukanit after studying the indictment.

It accused the prosecutor who drafted the indictment of "exceeding his authority" and producing "unjustified and intentional" accusations against the army.

The indictment was "aimed at wearing down the Turkish armed forces and weakening their resolve in the fight against terrorism," the statement said.

The army expects the government "to shed light on all aspects of this onslaught, reveal those behind it ... and take action against them", it added.

The bombing in Semdinli raised questions over whether Turkey had succeeded in purging rogue elements from the security forces. Members of the forces are accused of summary executions, extortion, kidnappings and drug-smuggling in the mainly Kurdish southeast in the 1990s, the peak years of a separatist Kurdish rebellion there.

The indictment demands life terms for the two soldiers and the Kurdish informer for the blast, which it describes as a provocative act to stir unrest in the southeast, discredit the government and undermine Turkey's bid to join the European Union.

The justice ministry has launched an inquiry into the prosecutor to see if he abused his powers by levelling accusations against Buyukanit without solid evidence.