Turkish prosecutors filed charges yesterday accusing 86 people of murder, bombings and inciting public unrest as part of a militant secularist plot to overthrow the Government.

“The indictment covers crimes such as forming an armed terror group and attempting to overthrow the Government by force,” Aykut Cengiz Engin, Istanbul’s chief prosecutor, said.

Few details were given of the charges, which follow a year-long investigation, but the suspects are alleged to have plotted to provoke a military coup to bring down Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Prime Minister. Those facing charges have not been named but are believed to include several military figures, leading to claims of the existence of a shadowy ultra-nationalist group determined to fight for Turkey’s secularist values.

Tensions have existed for six years between the secularist Establishment – including the military, bureaucracy and judiciary – and the proWest, pro-EU Justice and Development Party (AK), originally founded by moderates from a now-banned Islamist party. The constitutional court is considering a move to have the AK party shut down for allegedly harbouring secret Islamist aims.

The latter case was opened after the Government attempted to allow girls to wear the Muslim headscarf at university. Mr Erdogan’s opponents also claim that his party is placing supporters in places of influence in the courts, education, civil service and security services.

The AK party embraces nationalist and centre-right market liberals as well as religious conservatives.

The allegations involve an ultra-nationalist group called Ergenekon, which came to public attention a year ago when a cache of grenades was discovered in a raid on the Istanbul home of a retired military officer. Ergenekon members have been accused in the media of wanting to stir up public support for a coup through a campaign of terror and intimidation against the Government.

The prosecutor said that the charge sheet did not include 20 other suspects, including two retired generals, who were detained this month as part of the investigation. A second set of charges would be prepared against them once prosecutors had completed their investigation.

One of the generals heads the Atatürk Thought Association, which was behind mass public protests last summer against the Government. The protests formed part of a campaign that led to an early general election, which AK won by a surprise landslide.

Mr Engin said that Ergenekon’s alleged crimes included the murder of a senior judge in Ankara in 2006 by a hitman claiming to have been angered by restrictions against the headscarf. At the time, the AK party was attacked for encouraging Islamist violence. Another allegation involves the bombing of the offices of the secular Cumhuriyetnewspaper, also blamed at the time on Islamist terrorists.

More details of the alleged plot are expected to emerge if and when the indictment has been accepted by a court, which could take 15 days.

Critics claimed that most of those detained in the Ergenekon investigation were opponents of the AK party and said that the case was being used for political purposes, but this was denied by a senior AK official. “Any government intervention is out of the question,” Bekir Bozdag said. “The Government has no authority to direct an investigation. The judiciary is independent.”

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