Ex-Turkish generals charged over alleged coup plot

ISTANBUL: A Turkish court has charged two retired generals in connection with a shadowy grouping that allegedly planned to oust the government, the Anatolia news agency reported Sunday.
 
Hursit Tolon and Sener Eruygur, former four-star generals, were charged with "setting up and leading an armed gang" and remanded in custody, media reports said.

They were among 21 suspects -- most of them known government critics -- rounded up Tuesday in dawn raids in five cities as part of a controversial probe into a network called Ergenekon, which allegedly aimed to discredit and oust the country's Islamist-rooted ruling party.

The detentions came at a time when the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) was defending itself in court against a possible ban for violating Turkey's strict secular order.

Media reports claimed that police also seized in Tuesday's swoop a secret plan designed to pave the way for a military coup by fomenting unrest through illegal protests, assassinations and clashes with security forces.

Eruygur is the chairman of a hardline secularist association that led mass demonstrations against the AKP last year. He was also alleged to have been one of several generals who plotted a coup in 2004 to overthrow Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Lawyers for the two former generals denied the accusations.

"The commander who loyally served his country for years has been formally arrested on false accusations. We do not accept any of the charges," Filiz Esen, who represents Eruygur, was quoted by Anatolia as saying.

Tolon's lawyer Ozgur Meric Tuna said he would appeal to secure his client's release. "I cannot say that he has been judged fairly," Tuna said.

Of the 21 suspects detained this week, courts have charged 10 of them, including the generals.

The remaining 11 have been been released but at least nine of them have been barred from leaving the country while the case continues.

More than 50 suspects have been jailed pending trial in the Ergenekon investigation since it was launched in June last year after the discovery of explosives in an Istanbul house.

But government opponents have criticised the fact that prosecutors have still not issued an indictment, and claimed that the ruling party is using the investigation to intimidate and silence opponents.