Turkish gendarmerie fire water cannon and tear gas as they clash with hundreds of protesters trying to enter a courthouse in Silivri near Istanbul on February 18, 2013. (AFP Photo)
Police used water cannons and pepper spray to disperse a crowd of demonstrators outside a prison complex near Istanbul, as a mass trial of almost 300 people accused of plotting to topple Turkey’s elected government drew to a close.
The protesters, including many relatives of the accused as well as army supporters, tried to breach the security cordon outside the court compound but were repelled by police, Saudi-owned pan-Arabic news network Al-Arabiya reported.
The 275 defendants of the four-year-long trial have been accused of trying to foment an uprising against the Islamic-leaning Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, and of having ties to an alleged ultranationalist terrorist network known as Ergenekon.
Turkish gendarmerie fire water cannon and tear gas as they clash with hundreds of protesters trying to enter a courthouse in Silivri near Istanbul on February 18, 2013. (AFP Photo)
The trial involved top military personnel, army officers, academics, journalists and lawyers, and the verdict is expected within weeks. Pro-government groups have praised the trial as a step towards democracy that will end a tradition of political interference in Turkey.
But critics said the case is based on shaky evidence, and is an act of revenge against the powerful Turkish army, which is the second-biggest in NATO after the US and is openly hostile towards Islamist Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish army has overthrown or subdued four governments in the past 50 years.
The indictment accused alleged members of Ergenekon of a number of attacks over several decades, including a grenade attack against the center-left newspaper Cumhuriyet’s Istanbul headquarters in 2008, and a shooting at a court in 2006 that killed a judge.
Islamists were initially blamed for both attacks, but prosecutors believe the attacks were actually instigated by the army command with the eventual aim of toppling the AKP government, and restoring nationalist leadership in Turkey.
Turkish gendarmerie fire water cannon and tear gas as they clash with hundreds of protesters trying to enter a courthouse in Silivri near Istanbul on February 18, 2013. (AFP Photo)
Prosecutors in Turkey have insisted that Ergenekon are responsible for virtually every act of political violence, and are in control of every terrorist group in Turkey from the past 30 years.
The investigation has lasted more than 5 years and has multiplied into various inquiries, reflecting the deep hostility in Turkey between the army and the AKP government.
Turkey’s military elite see themselves as guardians of the country’s secular constitution. Some fear that moves towards restricting alcohol and lifting the partial ban on women wearing headscarves could be the first steps towards an Islamic state.
In a separate case in the same court last September, more than 300 active and retired army officers and three former generals received prison sentences of up to 20 years for their involvement in a military-led coup plot in 2003 dubbed ‘Sledgehammer.’
Turkish gendarmerie fire water cannon and tear gas as they clash with hundreds of protesters trying to enter a courthouse in Silivri near Istanbul on February 18, 2013. (AFP Photo)
Turkish gendarmerie fire water cannon and tear gas as they clash with hundreds of protesters trying to enter a courthouse in Silivri near Istanbul on February 18, 2013. (AFP Photo)
