Turkish authorities detained 18 serving and retired military officers Friday, adding to fears that the conflict between the country's secular military and religiously inspired government was worsening.
The detentions came just a day after the release of three of the country's highest-ranking former generals, raising hopes that the tensions between the secular elite and the government had been easing.
The detentions are tied to a wide-ranging investigation into a possible plot in 2003 to foment civil unrest and provide a pretext for a coup to unseat the government led by the current ruling party.
The nation's powerful military has deposed governments in the past, saying that they had veered away from Turkey's secular governing model, and secularists have
for years worried that the ruling party would make a more openly Islamic society.
Sixteen of the eighteen people detained Friday are active-duty military officers. They were captured in 13 different cities in Turkey.
Since Monday, 67 people have been detained, and 31 of them were later arrested. About 200 people are already in detention in a related case.
On Friday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan defended the detentions and the ongoing investigations, saying they were part of Turkey's move toward an "advanced democracy."
"Those who plot to crush people's will behind closed doors, should realize that from now on they will face the law," he said.
It remains unclear if the three former generals will be charged despite their release. The men were let go after three days following a meeting between senior political and military leaders called to try to defuse tensions.
This week's detentions are part of an investigation into an alleged secret action plan called Sledgehammer, which prosecutors say was aimed at overthrowing the government in 2003 after destabilizing the country with violence against civilian targets, including mosques. The military has vehemently denied that there was any such plan.
That investigation is related to a probe of what prosecutors say was a broad plot, known as Ergenekon, against the government. The 200 people in detention in that case include intellectuals, journalists
and academics. A trial in that case has been ongoing for more than a year.