The Cage plan is an alleged Naval Forces Command plot to undermine the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) by assassinating prominent non-Muslim figures in Turkey and putting the blame for the killings on the party. The plan aimed to intimidate the country’s non-Muslim groups, which would hopefully increase internal and external pressure on the ruling party. Diminishing public support for the party would eventually lead to a military takeover, according to the plan.
The plan was detailed on a CD seized last year from the office of retired Maj. Levent Bektaş, who was arrested in April for suspected links to the Poyrazköy munitions. That discovery came as part of the investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine gang whose suspected members are currently standing trial on charges of having plotted to overthrow the government.
The Poyrazköy document demands life sentences for five naval officers -- Lt. Col. Ercan Kireçtepe, Lt. Col. Mustafa Turhan Ecevit, Maj. Eren Günay, Maj. Emre Onat and retired Maj. Bektaş -- on charges of “attempting to destroy Parliament and the government.”
