As the trial opened on Monday, prosecutors presented a 1,900-page indictment in which they said the accused were part of a shadowy conspiracy to unseat Turkey's government by creating chaos in the country through assassinations and bombings. This, prosecutors said, was part of a broader plan to produce the pre-conditions for a military coup.

The charge sheet said Sener Eruygur, former commander of the gendarmerie forces, and Hursit Tolon, former top army commander, "began implementing the coup plans they drew up in 2003-2004 while in office and continued their activities after they retired."

The two men are the highest ranking military officials to go on trial in modern Turkish history. Other defendants include journalists and academics known to be critics of the ruling AK Party - the moderate offshoot of a banned Islamist group. Opponents of the party accuse it of seeking to undermine Turkey's secular system.

More than 200 people demonstrated outside the courthouse near Istanbul, saying the charges were a fabrication to silence government opponents.

Shifting landscape

Until now, the Turkish army, which has overthrown four governments since 1960, has largely been seen as untouchable. But some analysts say the trial of what has been dubbed the Ergenekon Conspiracy is a sign of the waning influence of the Turkish military.

The case also highlights the ongoing power struggle in the country between the current AK Party government and the military, which sees itself as the guardian of secular principles in Turkey.

Political columnist Kadri Gurcel told Deutsche Welle the case was an indication of the changing political landscape in Turkey.

"The army is on the defensive, on the retreat. It is trying to retreat to legitimate ground, but in an organized step by step (manner)," Gurcel said.

Soli Ozel of Bilgi University said the trial was of crucial importance: "If prosecutors can show that the alleged coup attempts were indeed made and that the two generals put in jail were actually responsible for trying to stage coups then we see that the Turkish democracy passed through a period of great peril."

Public divided

But with the Ergenekon case entering its third year, and with arrests and home raids continuing, criticism is growing over the handling of the investigation.

At a recent anti-government rally, protesters decried what they said had become a witch hunt of AK Party critics. Those concerns have grown with the revelation that tens of thousands of telephone lines have been monitored by the police in connection with the investigation, while many of those detained have been held for months without charge.

"The job has been done in a very sloppy way and that the rules of the game have not been properly observed … to a certain extent has politicized (the case)," said Ozel. "There was this 'the ends justify the means' approach, which ultimately may hurt the case itself and that would be a pity."

In a sign of the polarizing effect the case is having in Turkish society, there have also been pro-investigation marches in central Istanbul in recent weeks. A leading member of the government, Suat Kiniklioglu, said time was running out for investigators.

"If it continues, if it is prolonged excessively, then people will (lose) sight of the essence of it, and then it will evolve into something else, and it would be very unfortunate for that to happen," he said.

But prosecutors in the case are showing no sign of wrapping up their investigation, and further arrests and trials are expected. With nearly 200 defendants to call and thousands of pages of evidence, the case is expected to take years to complete.

Author: Dorian Jones/dfm

Editor: Susan Houlton