Turkey's army says it wants to be kept out of politics as corruption probe touches government
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
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.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Critics accuse Erdogan of political maneuvering to prevent new arrests related to the probe, including the removal of police and judicial officials.