Turk govt raps army over intervention threat

ANKARA, Apr 28 (Reuters) Turkey's Islamist-rooted government today sharply criticised an army threat to intervene in the country's politics and said the military was answerable to the civilian authorities.

Government spokesman Cemil Cicek said Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan had spoken by telephone with Turkey's top general, Yasar Buyukanit, after Friday's statement in which the military said it was ready to act in defence of secularism.

''The chief of the General Staff is answerable to the Prime Minister,'' Cicek said, adding that the army statement was aimed at influencing the courts amid a legal challenge to the government's handling of a presidential election.

REUTERS SM RK1812