Turkish ‘coup plot’ trial opens

Thirty-three naval officers appeared in court in Istanbul on Tuesday over allegations they plotted to kill some of Turkey’s most senior non-Muslim figures and topple the government.

The alleged operation, dubbed Operation Cage, kept hitlists of planned targets amongst minority groups.

According to the charge sheet, the plotters wanted to frame the governing AKP party and give the impression it had ordered the killings.

Lawyers for the Armenian community newspaper have also intervened in the trial as a third party.

They say the officers murdered its editor-in-chief, Hrant Dink, as part of Operation Cage.

The Armenian-Turkish journalist was gunned down in Istanbul in January 2007.

Dink was often an outspoken critic of the Turkish government’s human rights record and was one of the country’s most well-known media personalities.

His assassination prompted mass protests across Turkey.

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