A Turkish court Monday sentenced a former army chief to life in prison for his role in a plot to bring down the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, local media reported, according to dpa. Ilker Basbug was arrested in 2012 and accused along with 275 army officers, politicians, journalists and academics of membership in Ergenekon, a right-wing secular organization that allegedly plotted to stage a military coup. His term as military chief ended in 2010. Basbug was charged with leading a terrorist organization that carried out attacks designed to sow chaos in Turkey in preparation or an army-led coup. He denied any wrongdoing. Prosecutors linked Ergenekon to violent attacks, including the shooting death of a judge in an Ankara court in 2006, that were made to look as if carried out by Islamist militants to justify the planned coup, dpa said. The trial lasted five years and was based on an investigation that was launched after hand grenades were found in the Istanbul apartment of a non-commissioned army officer in 2007. -- SPA 00:16 LOCAL TIME 21:16 GMT تغريد
