ISTANBUL - The indictment regarding the operation "Ergenekon" was filed at an Istanbul court on Monday, indicting 86 people on charges of attempting to overthrow Turkish government, a prosecutor said.
Istanbul Chief Prosecutor Aykut Cengiz Engin unveiled technical details of the indictment on Ergenekon investigation at a press conference.
"The indictment includes 86 suspects, 48 of whom are in prison," Engin said.
He said the 2455-page indictment and its 441-folder annexes accused the suspects of "being members of an armed terrorist organization, aiding the armed terrorist organization, attempting to overthrow Turkish government by force, inciting people to armed insurgency, possessing and throwing explosives, instigating these crimes, instigating the attack on Council of State and bombing of daily Cumhuriyet, having secret documents on state security, recording personal data, encouraging military disobedience, inciting people to enmity and animosity."
An alleged criminal network that came to be known as "Ergenekon" was revealed after police seized hand grenades, TNT explosives and fuses in a shanty house in Istanbul on June 12th, 2007 and Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation into weapons.
Several Turkish figures, including two senior retired generals, a political party leader and a business leader, were detained and sent to prison within the scope of the investigation.
The court had 15 days to decide whether to accept the indictment, Engin said. He said the contents of the indictment would only be unveiled if accepted by the court.
He responded to criticism that preparation of the indictment had taken more than a year, saying "it was an extensive probe and there was a huge volume of documents and number of suspects."
Engin also said that prosecutors had not launched any investigations into "coup diaries" published by a magazine and claimed to be written by former Naval Forces Commander Admiral Ozden Ornek.
(TÇ-MS)
(GEN)