Bahceli decries "smear campaign" against armed forces

The failure to mount a defense to counter a psychological smear campaign against the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) demonstrates an administrative weakness, said Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli yesterday. In a written statement, Bahceli said that the TSK is already busy fighting terrorism under difficult conditions, and called on President Abdullah Gul to "do his duty." Touching on this week's controversial detentions as part of Ergenekon probe, Bahceli said they have had wide societal repercussions, and that everyone deserves justice under the law. "This way of detaining people whose places and positions are clear is controversial, along with the way it's being depicted in the press in the absence of any indictments," he added.