Gog/MaGog Watch - The Set Up:

And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man's sword shall be against his brother. (Ezekiel 38:21)

Turkish Army Says Situation ‘Serious’ as Ex-Officers Detained

By Steve Bryant and Mark Bentley

Feb. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Turkey’s military said the detention of retired officers over an alleged coup plot was a “serious situation,” in the sharpest escalation of tensions with the government since a 2007 showdown that led to early elections.

The top commanders gathered at military headquarters in Ankara late yesterday to discuss the detention of more than 40 former officers, the armed forces said on its Web site. Police held the ex-officers, including previous heads of the air force and navy, in a series of raids on Feb. 22.

The arrests deepened strains between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the military leadership. Erdogan, whose Justice and Development Party has its roots in political Islam, has curtailed the secularist generals’ influence over decision- making as Turkey chases membership in the European Union.

“What was a low-intensity conflict has this week escalated into high intensity,” said Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkey Research Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “We’re facing a period of extreme polarization in politics, and the country is so consumed with it all that it seems to me only early elections can provide a breath of fresh air.”

The military has toppled four governments since 1960, including a predecessor of Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, which it suspects of introducing Islam into politics.

Entire article: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aoh1oUhGmixE&pos=9