The trial is held at a special court house in the town of Silivri, near Istanbul, and marks the government's increasing confidence in confronting a military that once held sway over Turkish political life.
Some 195 suspects face between 15 and 20 years in prison if convicted on charges of "attempting to topple the government by force," according to the indictment, the state-run Anatolia news agency report said. The court decided Thursday that charges against one sergeant would be dropped since his name was listed among the suspects by mistake, it said.
Prosecutors have not made public any evidence or details of the accusations, but the Taraf newspaper has published what it calls leaked copies of documents pertaining to an alleged conspiracy dubbed "Sledgehammer." The allegations include plans to blow up at least two major mosques during Friday prayers; assassinate some Christian and Jewish leaders; and shoot down a Turkish warplane and blame it on Greece, the country's historic rival.
Taraf said the conspirators hoped the chaos would lead to calls for a military takeover, and planned to turn stadiums into open-air prisons capable of holding tens of thousands of detainees. The paper says it has provided the documents to prosecutors, who are using them in their case.
The military, which has overthrown three governments since 1960 and pressured an Islamists-led government to step down in 1997, has denied such a plot, saying documents used as evidence were from a military training seminar during which officers simulated a scenario of internal strife.
One of the key suspects, retired Gen. Cetin Dogan, former commander of Turkey's first army who chaired the seminar, said there was nothing illegal in the seized documents and his remarks at the seminar have been manipulated.
"I am not a man of coups, I am a man of legal platforms," Anatolia quoted Dogan as saying outside the court house on Thursday.
HaberTurk television said the suspects arrived at the court in buses from a military guest house. They quickly entered the giant court house, which was specially designed to hold the large number of suspects.
Dozens of television crews stood far away from the entrance of the compound and only a small group of reporters were allowed to cover the trial. A small group of protesters shouted slogans outside the court house, demanding punishment for the suspects.
Irem Cicek, the daughter and lawyer of one of the suspects, Navy Col. Dursun Cicek, said the accusations against her father were based on a printed document that had no signature on it.
