Turkey jails three former generals

A Turkish court has sentenced three former generals to life in prison, in the trial of hundreds of military officers accused of plotting to overthrow the Islamic-rooted government.

The first ruling on Friday, involving several cases targeting the army, also convicted 326 other officers, in the two-year trial against the plot to overthrow Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government.

The court said the three generals, Çetin Dogan, a former first army commander; Ibrahim Firtina, a former air force commander and Ozden Ornek, a former naval force commander admiral, would however only serve a 20-year prison sentence due to being unsuccessful in their bid to topple the government.

Thirty-six officers were acquitted in the case, which has underlined civilian dominance over the once all-powerful military in Turkey.

The case is wrapped up at the court in Silivri, near Istanbul, which heard on Thursday the final testimonies of the suspects in the so-called "Sledgehammer" trial, named after a 2003 military exercise.

Prosecutors had demanded up to 20 years in prison for the 365 military officers in the case, which concerns alleged army plans to bomb historic mosques in Istanbul and initiate conflict with neighbouring Greece to facilitate a military coup.

The defendants argued that the alleged plot was a military exercise regularly held by the army, and questioned the authenticity of some documents presented as evidence.

326 other officers - including some senior military figures - were also convicted for their involvement in the plot.

Thirty-four people were acquitted. All the defendants denied the charges.

The officers were accused of plotting to bomb mosques and trying to trigger a war with Greece in order to justify a military coup.

'Unfair and unlawful'

Former army generals Cetin Dogan, Ozden Ornek and Ibrahim Firtina were initially given life sentences by the court in Silivri, near Istanbul, but then their sentences were dropped to 20 years.

The defendants denounced the evidence as fabricated and accused the government of carrying out a witch-hunt against the armed forces.

Speaking before the sentences were announced, Gen Dogan, former commander of Turkey's First Army, branded the two-year trial "unfair and unlawful".

He is accused of being the mastermind behind the 2003 alleged plot.

Hundreds of suspects, including army officers, journalists and politicians, are being tried separately over their alleged role in plotting to topple the government.

Pro-government circles have praised the trial as a step towards democracy, but pro-secular ones have branded it a witch-hunt to silence opposition.

The Turkish army, which sees itself as the guarantor of Turkey's secular principles, overthrew three governments in 1960, 1971 and 1980.

And in 1997, it pressured an Islamic-leaning prime minister, Necmettin Erbakan, to step down. Erbakan was the political mentor of current Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.