86 Indicted, Including Lawyers, in Alleged Plot to Overthrow Turkish Gov't
In a 2,455-page indictment submitted to a Turkish court today, the government has charged 86 alleged members of a militant secular group with plotting to overthrow the country’s Islamist government.
“The accused, who were not named, are charged with plotting to overthrow the government, inciting armed rebellion, and carrying out violent attacks including one at a court in Ankara in 2006 that killed a senior judge,” writes Bloomberg.
However, the prosecution of those allegedly involved in the claimed terrorist plot has political overtones, and is widely perceived as a power struggle between the current government and the military, which supports the secular establishment, the news agency writes. The 86 indicted suspects include retired military officers, lawyers and writers, according to the New York Times.
“Hard evidence of the nature of the group and what it was up to is still lacking,” writes the BBC. “But for months, the Turkish media have been full of lurid speculation about a planned campaign of bombings, shootings and mass protests which would have given the military a pretext to seize control.”
