ANKARA, Jan 30 (AFP) - President Suleyman Demirel warned in a newspaper interview against drawing Turkey's powerful generals into political debates, such as the current one over the extremist Hizbullah group.
"It is necessary to make an effort not to pull the army into political discussions because the soldiers are not a political party," Demirel said in Sunday's edition of the liberal Radikal newspaper.
"If (the soldiers) are forced into self-defense, they will not respond like a political party because they have more facilities than a political party," he warned. In 1997, the army ousted an Islamic prime minister.
The army general staff has lashed out at the pro-Islamic Virtue Party (FP), which had rightly accused the military of ignoring the Turkish Hizbullah, an undergound group that wants an Iranian-style regime.
Police have unearthed 42 bodies in shallow graves across Turkey in a massive crackdown against Hizbullah since January 17, when the group's leader was killed and two senior commanders were captured in Istanbul.
Turkish Hizbullah, which is not associated with the Lebanese guerrilla group of the same name, emerged in the early 1980s with the initial aim of countering the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is fighting for a separate state in southeast Turkey.
Amid the macabre discoveries, Virtue Party leader Recai Kutan on Tuesday accused the army of turning a blind eye to Hizbullah in a bid to indirectly encourage its armed campaign against the PKK.
The next day, the army hit back at Virtue Party, saying "The representatives of this mentality are the source of Muslim extremism in Turkey and have the biggest share in the stage it has reached today."
Demirel said such images gave the damaging but true image that the Turkish army controls Turkish politics.
"Everyone should avoid acts that will disturb the country's soldiers and force them to defend themselves," he warned.
The president again claimed that the state had not ignored Hizbullah, but said some officials might have helped the group without the state knowing. "There may be some people who may have opted to use illegitimate methods. These are individual mistakes. There is no point in accusing the state," he told Radikal.
The army, which wields considerable political influence, is a staunch defender of the secular constitution and has vowed to fight the Islamic resurgence, which it sees as the primary threat to the Turkish state.
