Photo:The long-running Ergenekon trial triggered big protests , AFP
Turkey’s supreme court Thursday overturned the convictions of 275 people, including senior military officers, accused of plotting a coup against the government of then-prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
The appeals court ruled that the convictions were unsafe because the existence of a clandestine network called Ergenekon has not been proved.
According to BBC report, the officers, journalists, lawyers and academics were found guilty in 2013 of plotting the overthrow of then-prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The new ruling may lead to a retrial.
The Ergenekon case was one of the biggest in recent Turkish history, pitting Mr Erdogan’s supporters in the Islamist-rooted AK Party against the secularist military establishment.
The trials took place amid high security at Silivri, outside Istanbul, and police repeatedly used tear gas and water cannon to keep protesters at a distance.
The highest-ranking defendant was ex-military chief Ilker Basbug, who was given a life sentence. Sixteen other life sentences were also handed down, with long jail terms for others.
The appeals court found several other flaws in the original proceedings, including illegal surveillance and searches.
Mr Basbug walked free in March 2014, after Turkey’s constitutional court overturned his sentence, citing a legal technicality. He was in charge of the Turkish military from 2008 to 2010.