A Turkish court on Friday convicted 330 serving and retired military officers of involvement in the 'sledgehammer' coup plot hatched in 2003 for overthrowing the Islamic-rooted government of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has been in power since 2002.
According to Turkish media, the court handed down 20-year prison terms to former air force chief Ibrahim Firtina, former navy chief Ozden Ornek and former army commander Cetin Dogan over their involvement in the plot. Although they were initially sentenced to life in prison by the court, their sentences were later reduced.
The court also acquitted 34 others. All the defendants, who had earlier denied any wrongdoings, are expected to appeal Friday's verdict.
The crackdown over the "sledgehammer plot" was the first of its kind against senior military personnel in Turkey, although several lower-ranking Army officers have been tried on similar charges in the past.
The alleged Sledgehammer plot consisted of four "action plans," including a plot to bomb two major Istanbul mosques, Beyazit and Fatih, during Friday prayers. It also allegedly called for a secret discussion of the plans by top Turkish military commanders following which 160 officers attended a seminar convened in March 2003 in the Selimiye Army barracks in Istanbul.
According to the plan, the election victory of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was "a major step backwards" in the fight against the Islamist brand of politics. The plan was allegedly drafted between December 2002 and early 2003 and signed by Cetin Dogan--the then commander of Turkey's First Army.
However, the officers on trial over the "sledgehammer" alleged plot have denied any wrongdoings, insisting that the discussions they had in 2003 was just a seminar to discuss hypothetical scenarios.
Gen Dogan, who is alleged to the mastermind of the plot, was quoted as saying in court documents released Friday that the two-year trial against the military officials accused of involvement in the plot was "unfair and unlawful".
"Here we see a process unfolding to make the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey), who give their lives for their country, to pay the price of their commitment to the republic and its principles," he added.
Separately, over a hundred other military officers have been on trial since October 2009 for plotting to topple Turkey's Islamic-oriented government. They are accused of being members of the Ergenekon group, a shadowy right-wing organization fighting to bring secularism to Islamic Turkey.
The group, accused of planning a series of assassinations and bombings to prompt the military to seize control of the country, include high-ranking military officers, left-wing politicians, scientists, academics and journalists. All of them denied having any links to the alleged coup attempt, stating that their arrests were a part of a plot by the ruling AK party to silence its secular critics.
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