The separate weekly meetings President Gül ordinarily has with the chief of general staff and the prime minister turned into a trilateral summit last week. This was apparently because of the military’s “uneasiness” over the latest wave of detentions of nearly 50 retired and active duty military officers earlier this week as part of an investigation into the Sledgehammer coup plot, allegedly devised by the military to overthrow the government.A brief statement released following the meeting, which lasted three hours, said: “The issues which have been discussed recently were handled at the meeting. Our citizens should be sure that these issues will be solved within the framework of constitutional order and the law. It has also been underlined that everybody should act responsibly in this process in order not to wear down state institutions.”
The meeting was reportedly held upon the suggestion of President Gül, who was expected to meet with Başbuğ and Erdoğan separately this week as usual. The summit was the first to gather just Gül, Erdoğan and Başbuğ together.
While Gül aimed to ease the tension with the meeting and Erdoğan said following the summit that the meeting was positive, observers said holding such a meeting at a time when an investigation into members of the military is ongoing contradicts the essence of democracy and the principle of separation of powers.
