Turkey places 200 military officers on trial

12 April 2012

About 200 active and retired Turkish military officers went on trial today accused of plotting to overthrow the Islamic government.

The trial of former chiefs of the air force and dozens of generals and admirals is being held behind closed doors in Silivri, near Istanbul.

They arrived in buses and quickly entered the giant court house, which was specially designed to hold the large number of suspects.

All 196, who are free pending trial, face between 15 and 20 years in prison if convicted on charges of "attempting to topple the government by force" in 2003.

Prosecutors have not made public any evidence but the Taraf newspaper has published what it said were leaked copies of documents about an alleged conspiracy dubbed "Sledgehammer".

The allegations include plans to blow up at least two major mosques during Friday prayers; assassinate Christian and Jewish leaders; and shoot down a Turkish warplane and blame it on Greece.

Taraf said the conspirators hoped the chaos would lead to calls for a military takeover, and planned to turn stadiums into open-air prisons capable of holding tens of thousands of detainees.

The military, which has overthrown three governments since 1960, denies such a plot, saying the documents were from a military training seminar in which officers simulated internal strife.

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