A trial has started in Ankara for 275 people accused of plotting to oust a pro-Islamist government in 1997.
Those on trial include 81-year-old former army chief General Ismail Hakki Karadayi. Proceedings are expected to last several months.
The alleged conspirators are accused of helping to topple the then-government of Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, head of the Islamist-oriented Welfare Party, in February 1997.
Erbakan's government was forced to step down in favor of a new civilian government after a meeting of the National Security Council.
The Welfare Party was later outlawed.
Karadayi and his co-defendants deny any part in the alleged army interference in politics.
They accuse the current Islamist-rooted government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of trying to silence its secularist opponents.
Those on trial include 81-year-old former army chief General Ismail Hakki Karadayi. Proceedings are expected to last several months.
The alleged conspirators are accused of helping to topple the then-government of Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, head of the Islamist-oriented Welfare Party, in February 1997.
Erbakan's government was forced to step down in favor of a new civilian government after a meeting of the National Security Council.
The Welfare Party was later outlawed.
Karadayi and his co-defendants deny any part in the alleged army interference in politics.
They accuse the current Islamist-rooted government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of trying to silence its secularist opponents.
