Col. Dursun Çiçek, whose signature appears on a military plot aimed at destroying the country's ruling party and a faith-based civil society group, was arrested and put in jail after a testimony to civilian prosecutors on Wednesday.

The colonel arrived at the Beşiktaş courthouse in İstanbul in the morning in civilian attire, 19 days after he was summoned for testimony on a probe launched into the notorious plot. He was accompanied by five other members of the military, who also testified to the prosecutors on the plot probe. Çiçek was interrogated by prosecutors conducting a probe into a clandestine criminal organization accused of plotting to overthrow the government, known as Ergenekon, as a suspect. The colonel was interrogated for approximately five hours and later transferred to a court to be arrested.

A military plot, on which a genuine signature of the colonel appears, details a Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) plan to destroy the image of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government and the faith-based Gülen movement in the eyes of the public, to play down the Ergenekon investigation and to gather support for members of the military arrested as part of the investigation into Ergenekon. Dozens of Ergenekon members, including businessmen, members of the military and journalists, are currently incarcerated while standing trial.

Col. Çiçek is believed to be one of the key figures in the plot controversy. The plot is, however, not solely the colonel's work. The prosecutors are investigating who gave the colonel the order to prepare such a plan.

The colonel was summoned for testimony by civilian prosecutors last month, but he chose to not comply with the order until yesterday. Ergenekon prosecutor Zekeriya Öz announced on Tuesday that police would use force to bring Çiçek to testify as part of the plot probe. “We called him to testify and demanded that the colonel be brought by police force. But he has yet to arrive at the courthouse,” Öz added.

Seven other members of the military appeared at the Beşiktaş courthouse last month to testify on the notorious action plan. They were released after their testimony.

The plot, called the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism, made its way into the media in early June. The General Staff, however, denied possession of the plan, saying the document was a photocopied version. An unnamed military officer mailed the original copy to Ergenekon prosecutors last month, which eliminated all suspicion surrounding the authenticity of the plot. A forensic medical examination showed that a genuine signature on the document belongs to Col. Çiçek.

The unnamed military officer has yet to be questioned by the prosecutors.

Col. Çiçek was arrested by a civilian court in July on suspicion of links to the plot but was later released after his lawyer filed an appeal. His immediate release was considered controversial. He had testified to Ergenekon prosecutors at that time.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday called on the armed forces to not harbor any member who is engaged in illegal and anti-democratic initiatives. “The TSK is one of the strongest elements of our state, and it should not be undermined. But we should not allow the protection of suspicious individuals by our institutions. Be it the armed forces or any other institution, they should not harbor such members. We need to do so in order to leave a strong Turkey to future generations,” he said.