Turkey: army wants to stay out of politics

Turkey’s military says it will not be dragged into politics amid a deepening corruption scandal that saw Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan reshuffle his Cabinet after three ministers, whose sons were detained as part of a probe, resigned.The military’s Friday statement came after one of Erdogan’s advisers raised the possibility in a regular column published in Star newspaper that the scandal may be a plot to trigger a coup. The government has already blamed the probe on a conspiracy to bring down the government.Turkey’s military has staged three military takeovers since the 1960s but has seen its powers curbed under Erdogan’s decade in power.Critics accuse Erdogan of political maneuvering to prevent new arrests related to the probe, including the removal of police and judicial officials.Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.(washingtonpost.com)ANN.Az