Fresh arrest warrants in Turkey "post-modern coup" probe

ANKARA 

A prosecutor in Turkey on Thursday ordered for a second wave of arrests for at least 12 military officers including a retired general in a probe into what has come to be publicly known in the country as "the post-modern military coup of February 28." 

Police have searched homes of suspects including four officers on active duty in six cities in the probe into the 1997 military-led campaign that forced a popularly elected coalition government to resign.
Retired Gen. Erol Ozkasnak, secretary general of the Turkish Military Staff at the time, was among the suspects and his house in the southwestern holiday resort town of Bodrum was also searched.
Police also searched a military housing compound and a military guesthouse in Istanbul.  
Retired Gen. Cevik Bir, deputy chief of the military staff at the time, and Abdullah Kilicarslan, deputy commander of the special forces, were detained last week under the investigation.   
The round-ups follow the launch of a court trial on a military takeover in Turkey in 1980, one of the most controversial episodes in the modern Turkish political history. 
Two retired generals -- a top mastermind of the coup and a member of the military junta -- are the last two suspects still alive to face charges of crimes against the state and possible lifetime imprisonment.
Separately, hundreds of suspects including former and active duty officers stand trial on the charges of plotting to overthrow the current government.
Turkish parliament has recently established a committee to investigate similar military interventions in Turkey's civilian politics in 1960 and in 1971 as well as an attempt as recent as in 2007 which was met by a fierce reaction and opposition by the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party.