Turkey’s former army chief arrested

Gen Ilker Basbug, who retired in 2010, is the highest-ranking officer to be caught up in a widening probe into the so-called Ergenekon network.

Prosecutors say in 2003 the hardline nationalist group tried to bring down PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.

Gen Basbug rejects the allegations. Some 400 suspects are already on trial.

The Ergenekon trial is one of several involving accusations of anti-government plots by the military and secular establishment.

Some military officers already charged in the case have said they acted in a chain of command.

Turkey's military has long seen itself as the guarantor of the country's secular constitution and staged three coups between 1960 and 1980.

The former army chief was taken to Istanbul's Silivri prison early on Friday morning after a health check.

Turkish state-run media said it is the first time a former army chief has been referred to a court as a suspect.

Gen Basbug could face charges of "gang leadership" and attempting to topple the government.

The Ergenekon network is also accused of establishing websites to disseminate anti-government propaganda to destabilise the country.

Critics have complained that the Ergenekon investigation has focused on opponents of Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party government. The government denies any such motives.

The decision on Gen Basbug came hours after prominent Turkish journalists on trial over the same case said that the charges against them were politically motivated and "a massacre of justice".

Western countries have raised concerns about the arrest of journalists in Turkey.

Almost 100 are currently behind bars, and the Turkish Journalists' Association has spoken of a "climate of fear".