It was the first time that Erdogan -- viewed with suspicion by the military because of his Islamist past -- had chaired the Higher Military Council meeting since becoming prime minister in March.

The council convened amid reports that Erdogan, whose wife wears an Islamic-style headscarf, had given up on a dinner held traditionally by the prime minister for the generals and their wives in the course of the three-day meeting in order to avoid possible tensions.

Turkey's army and the secularist establishment view the donning of the headscarf in public offices and at official functions as a symbolic declaration against the Muslim country's strictly secular political system.

Erdogan, who has served four months in jail for Islamist sedition, and many of his closest aides, were members of the Welfare Party of former prime minister Necmettin Erbakan, which was banned in 1998 for anti-secular activities.

The Higher Military Council meeting was taking place in the wake of the parliament's adoption Wednesday of a set of democracy reforms to curb the influential army's powers, a key demand of the European Union as a precondition for Turkish membership.

The reforms need presidential approval to take effect.

The Higher Military Council council convenes under the chairmanship of the prime minister each year to shape the army's top brass, determining the promotion and retirement of senior generals.

It also decides the sacking of military personnel believed to be involved in religious activities against the secular order.

The council's decisions, which are expected to be announced on Monday, are irreversible and cannot be appealed.

Army chief Hilmi Ozkok accused the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) of encouraging reactionary movements last December when the then Prime Minister Abdullah Gul, now foreign minister, put a reservation to a council decision to expel several officers.

A record number of officers -- 232 -- were dumped during the term of Erbakan, Turkey's first pro-Islamist prime minister who led the country between 1996 and 1997 before stepping down under pressure from the military.

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