Prosecutor Ferhat Sarikaya caused a storm last month when he demanded an investigation against Army Commander Yasar Buyukanit for suspected links with rogue groups in the military seeking to stir tensions in the mainly Kurdish southeast and derail Turkey's bid to join the European Union.

The armed forces condemned the allegations against Buyukanit as "ill-intentioned" and urged the government to punish those behind "this onslaught... aimed at wearing down the Turkish armed forces."

The justice ministry subsequently launched an investigation and inspectors concluded that the prosecutor went beyond the limits of his jurisdiction.

A board of senior jurists Thursday overwhelmingly voted to expel Sarikaya from the profession and to suspend him until his expulsion becomes definite, Anatolia said. Sarikaya has the right to appeal the decision.

The affair has underscored tensions between the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has its roots in a now-banned Islamist party, and the army, self-appointed guardians of the secular system.

The government has sought to distance itself from the prosecutor.

The accusations were part of an 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 bombing raised questions over whether Turkey had succeeded in purging rogue elements from the security forces.

These elements were 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 sought life terms for the two soldiers and the informer for the attack, which it described as a provocative act to stir unrest in the southeast, discredit the government and undermine Turkey's bid to join the EU.