Turkey's army says it wants to be kept out of politics as corruption probe touches government

In this photo taken late Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2013, Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a news conference in Ankara, Turkey. After a decade of dominance over Turkey's political scene, a rapidly developing corruption and bribery scandal has for the first time left Erdogan looking off balance and not in control of the political reins.(AP Photo/ File) (The Associated Press)

601d23e2-Turkey Erdogan Corruption Probe

In this photo released by the Turkish Presidency Press Office, Turkish President Abdullah Gul, center, and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, 7th left, during a meeting of the National Security Council in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2013. After a decade of dominance over Turkey's political scene, a rapidly developing corruption and bribery scandal has for the first time left Erdogan looking off balance and not in control of the political reins.(AP Photo/Mehmet Demirci, Turkish Presidency Press Office, HO) (The Associated Press)

ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey's military says it will not be dragged into politics amid a deepening corruption scandal that has forced Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to reshuffle his Cabinet after three ministers, whose sons were detained as part of a probe, resigned.

The military's Friday statement came after one of Erdogan's advisers raised the possibility in a regular column published in Star newspaper that the scandal may be a plot to trigger a coup. The government has already blamed the probe on a conspiracy to bring down the government.

Turkey's military has staged three military takeovers since the 1960s but has seen its powers curbed under Erdogan's decade in power.

Critics accuse Erdogan of political maneuvering to prevent new arrests related to the probe, including the removal of police and judicial officials.