The Turkish Army seal. A Turkish court on Wednesday charged and jailed seven senior Turkish military officers for allegedly plotting several years ago to overthrow the Turkish government. Last month Taraf newspaper stated it had obtained 5,000 pages of documents and tapes on the 'Sledgehammer' plan, which was aimed to overthrow the AK party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi) and to justify an army takeover in 2003. According to the report on January 21 2010, the army had plotted to provoke Greek fighter jets into shooting down a Turkish military jet and plant bombs in Istanbul mosques. The Turkish military had said documents were part of a military training seminar and not meant to be carried out. Chief of General Staff İlker Başbuğ on January 25 called these allegations “unconscionable” and said they were part of a campaign of psychological warfare designed to undermine public trust in the armed forces. “This is not something we’ve ever experienced in Turkey before, so it’s very hard to predict what will happen,” said Etyen Mahcupyan , director of the democratization program at Istanbul research institute Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation . Possible military responses may range from a mass resignation to a statement expressing faith in the judicial process, he said. 29 of those detained are being questioned by Istanbul police and another ten officers were brought before an Istanbul court on Tuesday morning according to reports by NTV and state-run Anatolian news agency . The Turkish Armed Forces have been responsible for 4 military coups in Turkey in the last 50 years. Other senior military officers have been arrested and indicted in separate plot to overthrow the government, involving a supposed far-right, ultra-nationalist group known as Ergenekon . Opponents of the government claim the ongoing trial of the Ergenekon group is being used by the government to target political opposition. The government rejects the accusation. 
 A Turkish court on Wednesday charged and jailed seven senior Turkish military officers for allegedly plotting several years ago to overthrow the Turkish government. Last month newspaper stated it had obtained 5,000 pages of documents and tapes on the 'Sledgehammer' plan, which was aimed to overthrow the (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi) and to justify an army takeover in 2003. According to the report on January 21 2010, the army had plotted to provoke Greek fighter jets into shooting down a Turkish military jet and plant bombs in mosques. The Turkish military had said documents were part of a military training seminar and not meant to be carried out. Chief of General Staff on January 25 called these allegations “unconscionable” and said they were part of a campaign of psychological warfare designed to undermine public trust in the armed forces. “This is not something we’ve ever experienced in Turkey before, so it’s very hard to predict what will happen,” said , director of the democratization program at Istanbul research institute . Possible military responses may range from a mass resignation to a statement expressing faith in the judicial process, he said. 29 of those detained are being questioned by Istanbul police and another ten officers were brought before an Istanbul court on Tuesday morning according to reports by and state-run . The have been responsible for 4 military coups in Turkey in the last 50 years. Other senior military officers have been arrested and indicted in separate plot to overthrow the government, involving a supposed far-right, ultra-nationalist group known as . Opponents of the government claim the ongoing trial of the Ergenekon group is being used by the government to target political opposition. The government rejects the accusation. Sister links
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The Turkish Army seal.
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Taraf
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AK party
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Istanbul
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İlker Başbuğ
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Etyen Mahcupyan
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Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation
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NTV
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Anatolian news agency
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Turkish Armed Forces
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Ergenekon
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Sister links