Turkish court charges seven officers in coup plot

In this file photo, Turkey's Air Force commander Gen. Ibrahim Firtina, seen in his office in Ankara. Turkish police detained about 50 military commanders on Monday for allegedly planning to blow up mosques in order to trigger a military takeover and overthrow the Islamic-rooted government. AP.

Turkish court has formally charged and jailed seven senior Turkish military officers for allegedly plotting several years ago to overthrow the Islamic—leaning government.

The wiretap evidence and discovery of alleged military plans drafted in 2003 to overthrow the government led to the detention of about 50 commanders on Monday in the highest profile crackdown ever on the military which has ousted four governments since 1960.

The court in Istanbul ordered that four admirals, an army general and two staff colonels be jailed. It released six other officers on Wednesday but it was not clear whether they were freed pending trial.

Prosecutors are still questioning dozens of other high—ranking officers, including former chiefs of the Navy, Air Force and Special Forces.