By SELCAN HACAOGLU
The Associated Press
Tuesday, February 2, 2010; 5:00 AM

AKSAZ NAVY BASE, Turkey -- With a crash of cymbals from a navy band, the Turkish military this week sent off a frigate to a counterpiracy mission off Somalia - far from the rough seas shaking the armed forces at home.

In contrast to the praise it's winning in missions overseas, the military's image in Turkey has been badly shaken over allegations of secret plots to overthrow the Islamic-rooted government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

It has all raised a once unthinkable question: Do the generals no longer call the shots in a nation that has been accustomed to viewing the army as the pillar of the secular state?

Certainly, the elite military class known as "Pashas" - a title of respect harking back to Ottoman times - are no longer untouchables, with several jailed over alleged coup attempts to overthrow the elected government.

In something of a revolution for Turkey, Erdogan has dramatically curtailed the power of the military to meet demands by the European Union to put the military under civilian rule and signaled further tough steps to rein in the generals.

The military has ousted four governments since 1960, proof to many here that it has been the real power in the country since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk set up a rigidly secular republic from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire.

But ordinary Turks have tired of the constant threat of military-led upheavals and they have warmed to the business-friendly, pragmatic and mildly Islamist direction in which Erdogan has been leading the country for the past seven years.

Erdogan has strongly bolstered democratic institutions as part of Turkey's EU bid, weakening the role of the military.

"Whoever thinks there is no law in this country, assumes that he can do as he desires and can justify his unlawful actions by various disguises, he should know that those times are over now," Erdogan warned last week.

"We do not want the people of this country to live under the shadow of oligarchy ever again, we want the nation to decide on the path their country treads."

Ironically, the decline of the army's clout in Turkey comes as it raises its profile on the world stage. In December, Turkey - NATO's only Muslim member - took over the command of the alliance's peacekeeping operation in Kabul, Afghanistan, a transfer steeped in symbolism.

Turkey has also contributed to peacekeeping missions in Somalia, Lebanon, and Kosovo.

Erdogan indicated on Sunday that an internal military regulation that was held up as constituting grounds for past army takeovers, could be amended. The regulation stipulates that the army has the duty of "watching over and protecting the Turkish Republic."

"If there is consensus, it could be changed," Erdogan said in an interview on the state television.

The government last week also said it would scrap another regulation that puts the entire police force under military commanders at times of martial law in another move to diminish the army's powers.

In an effort to downplay tensions, however, Erdogan said he was collaborating with the military chief to clamp down on allegations of coup plots. "Our cooperation is continuing in a positive way," he said.

Erdogan's remarks came a few days after the chief of the military, Gen. Ilker Basbug angrily pounded on a podium with his fist and denied what he called "heartless" allegations that his subordinates could be plotting to blow up a mosque to trigger chaos and eventually a coup.

The outburst followed revelations of a series of recent alleged military coup plots, the discovery of secret weapons caches and of wiretapping that have dealt a massive blow to the military's credibility with the public.

Prosecutors so far have charged more than 400 people. Although soldiers comprise only one-tenth of the suspects - who include academics, journalists and politicians - they are accused of being the main instigators.

Basbug insisted that the era of coups is over.

"Of course there were some incidents in Turkey. But we, as the Turkish Armed Forces, say that these incidents are history as of today," Basbug said last week. "We believe that (the military) also received its share of lessons drawn from that period."

Still, the military continues to cling onto old privileges.

The Constitutional Court recently annulled a law that allowed the prosecution of military officers by civilian courts instead of military courts for crimes such as attempting to overthrow regimes. Some civilian courts insisted that such crimes should be handled by them.

"The military is under the interrogation of its own personal record, which is democratically tainted due to its history of coups and ultimatums," Fatih Cekirge recently wrote in his column in daily Hurriyet. "Until these claims are examined by the civil courts, public conscience will not be relieved."

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Selcan Hacaoglu has covered Turkey since 1992. Associated Press Writers Suzan Fraser and Ceren Kumova in Ankara contributed to this report.