Turkey coup trial set to open

20/10/2008| IslamWeb

A group of 86 people are to be tried at a Turkish court for allegedly plotting a coup against the country's Islamist-based government.

 

Prosecutors in the case, which begins on Monday near Istanbul, say that the secretive, ultra-nationalist gang planned to assassinate leading Turkish figures and launch bomb attacks, all aimed at removing the incumbent government.

 

The suspected members of the Ergenekon group face about 30 charges, including membership of a terrorist group, instigating an armed uprising against the government, arson and illegal possession of weapons.

 

Mohammed Vall, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Istanbul, said the case had caused great intrigue and many consider it as the biggest trial in Turkey's modern history.

 

Alleged plot

 

"The plotters are accused of attempting to create a state of chaos through rumors, explosions and assassinations, all in order to instigate a military coup," Vall said.

 

"The gang's action manual included a list of non-Islamist politicians and intellectuals slated for assassination, among them the Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk.

 

"They have been charged with some of Turkey's most notorious murders.

 

"But the biggest shock came in July, when some former high ranking military officials were arrested for possible links to the secret organization, including Sener Eruygur, a former force commander, and general Hursit Tolon, a former commander of the 1st Army Corps."

 

Forty-six of the accused are in custody. As well as former army officers, leftist politicians, members of secular associations, journalists, academics and underworld figures are among the suspects.

 

Stoking tensions

 

The trial has stoked rivalries between supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, and secularists, who say the inquiry is occurring to intimidate and silence opponents.

 

The military has ended the rule of four governments in four decades in Turkey. Many secularists suspect Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) of pushing a secret plan to install Islamic rule in the country.

 

Tafan Turance, a columnist with the Hurriyet newspaper, told Al Jazeera: "This has become a politicized case, which destroys its legal value.

 

"I don't deny the existence of Ergenekon or other criminal organizations. But the trial has lumped real criminals with innocent people who are opposed to the government in this case."

 

Erhan Celik, a presenter with Channel 7 TV station, said that it was time that renegade members of the army and security forces - known as the ‘Deep South' in Turkey - were brought to account.

 

He said: "This case is not a debate between seculars and anti-seculars. In fact it's an instance of the battle between supporters of democracy and those who oppose it."

 

The suspects were arrested after an investigation into the discovery of hand grenades in Istanbul in June 2007.

 

PHOTO CAPTION

 

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan

 

Al-Jazeera