Turkish Oficer Arrested Over Coup Plot

A colonel in Turkey's army was arrested over the weekend on charges that he was plotting a military coup. The colonel, along with a cadre of backers, had planned to attack minorities in the country and blame Islamists, in an attempt to destabilize the government. The officer's attorneys say he is innocent, and that he would be exonerated of the charges, as he had been in a previous arrest.

The arrest was connected to a wider probe by the government of the military, which Turkish political officials have accused of being too independent. Dozens of soldiers and officers have been arrested in recent years.