President Gul: Turkey not in “crisis”

Turkish President Abdullah Gul denied on Saturday that the country is in crisis following the resignation of four top military commanders.

The Chief of Staff together with the heads of the army, navy and air force stepped down together, angry over the arrest of 250 military officers on charges of conspiring against the government.

Relations between the military and the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan have been strained since his socially-conservative party first won power in 2002.

Erdogan announced the Chief of Staff’s replacement on Friday as General Necdet Ozel.

In the past, Turkey’s generals were more likely to seize power than quit. The military has staged three coups since the 1960s. The also pushed an Islamist-led government from power in 1997.

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