Turkey Ergenekon 'coup' trial verdict expected
A court in Turkey is expected to deliver its verdict later on Monday in the trial of more than 270 people accused of plotting to overthrow the country's Islamic-rooted government.
Among the defendants is a former army chief as well as other army officers, lawyers, academics and journalists.
Gen Ilker Basbug, who led the army between 2008 and 2010, has rejected all the charges against him.
The "Ergenekon" plot allegedly aimed to topple the AK Party government (AKP).
The defendants face dozens of charges, ranging from membership of Ergenekon - an alleged underground terrorist organisation - to illegally possessing weapons and instigating an armed uprising against the AKP.
Prosecutors have demanded life imprisonment for Gen Basbug and 63 others, including nine other generals.
The court is sitting in a specially constructed courtroom at the high-security Silivri prison complex, west of Istanbul, where the general is being held.
The case is being seen as a key test in Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's showdown with secularist and military opponents.
Since Mr Erdogan came to power in 2002, hundreds of military officers - serving or retired - have been arrested.
Critics say there is little evidence for the charges and accuse the government of trying to silence its secularist opponents. Critics have complained that the Ergenekon investigation has focused on opponents of the AKP, which has Islamist roots. The government denies any such motives.
Turkey's military has long seen itself as the guarantor of the country's secular constitution.
It staged three coups between 1960 and 1980 and has a history of tension with the AKP.
The AKP is considered a successor to the Welfare Party, an Islamist party which led a 1996-97 government forced to resign by an army-led campaign. bbc
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