Three Soldiers Charged in Turkey Coup Probe

Source Al Manar - A court in Istanbul has charged three army lieutenants in an investigation into an alleged plot to topple Turkey's government, the Anatolia news agency reported.

The suspects, charged late Friday, were among 26 people detained Thursday in pre-dawn operations across the country as part of the probe into Eregenekon, a network of anti-government secularists suspected of being behind a coup conspiracy.

The news agency did not say what charges the court brought against the soldiers before sending them to a military prison pending trial. Five other suspects taken into custody in the eastern city of Sivas were released Friday without charges after testifying to police, it said.

A total of 86 people -- among them retired army officers, politicians, journalists and underworld figures -- are already on trial for the Ergenekon affair. They are accused of plotting assassinations to create political chaos and spark a military coup against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which came to power in 2002.

More than 40 other suspects arrested in the later stages of the investigation are yet to be indicted. Initially hailed as a success, the credibility of the probe has been called into question after it began targeting journalists, academics and intellectuals known to be critics of the government. The AKP is accused by some of using the probe as revenge against political opponents who tried to have the party outlawed last year for alleged anti-secular activity.