‘Trial of the century’ for coup plot back on track

Turkish court takes special measures after hearing was interrupted

Turkish gendarme soldiers stand in front of protesters waiting outside Silivri Prison, some 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) west of Istanbul, during the trial of the Ergenekon network, a shadowy right-wing group, in the heavily guarded prison yesterday.

By Murad Sezer - The Associated Press

ISTANBUL – A Turkish court yesterday resumed the trial of dozens of people accused of attempting to overthrow Turkey’s Islamic-oriented government.

The court took special measures in the case after the first hearing on Monday descended into chaos, with defendants, lawyers and spectators jamming the courtroom, hampering proceedings and forcing a delay.

Yesterday’s hearing was limited to the 46 defendants who are being held in custody, three lawyers each, a small number of spectators and local news agency reporters. A further 40 defendants are free and will be tried later.

The defendants – including former army officers, a best-selling author, journalists, a former university dean and a lawyer – are accused of belonging to a ultranationalist group that prosecutors say was trying to destabilize Turkey with a string of attacks ahead of a coup planned for 2009.

The defendants have denied the charges, arguing the trial is political and was instigated by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted government to silence its secular critics.

The government says the trial is an opportunity to expose the influence of the “deep state,” a shadowy network of alleged extremists with links to state institutions, including the military.

The case – dubbed the “trial of the century” by the media in Turkey – reflects a widening division between the country’s growing Islamic class and secular foes, some of whom have turned to violence.

Human rights groups have welcomed the trial as an opportunity to unravel an illegal organization, strengthen democracy in Turkey and investigate possible involvement by people currently in office, including military and intelligence personnel.

But the investigation so far has not uncovered alleged involvement by active-duty military officers or other state officials, despite what many Turks believe is a long history of crime by elements of the Turkish state.

In his 2,455-page indictment, the prosecutor has accused the defendants of belonging to a network called Ergenekon and plotting to create an atmosphere of chaos that would spur a military coup and, in turn, topple the Islamic-rooted government. Ergenekon is the name of a legendary valley in Central Asia believed to be the ancestral homeland of Turks.

Yesterday’s hearing at a prison complex in Istanbul’s Silivri district on the coast of the Sea of Marmara was largely procedural, with court officials confirming the suspects’ identities and accepting requests by a newspaper and a human rights activist to be parties to the trial.

Prosecutors say the defendants were behind attacks or attempted attacks on prominent Turks. These included a 2006 assault on Turkey’s Administrative Court that killed a judge and on the pro-secular Cumhuriyet newspaper, allegedly carried out by secularists impersonating Islamists to stir up opposition. The violence led to secular demonstrations against the government.

The indictment says the suspects planned to kill Prime Minister Erdogan, Nobel literature laureate Orhan Pamuk, prominent Kurdish politicians and the country’s military chief to create an atmosphere of chaos.