Two former Turkish generals were arrested today on charges of forming and leading a terrorist group and seeking to overthrow the Islamist-leaning government, the state Anatolian news agency said.
A court ordered the arrest of Sener Eruygur, once head of the paramilitary gendarmerie, and Hursit Tolon, the former first army commander. They were sent to a prison in Istanbul.
Mr Eruygur is head of the Kemalist Thought Association, which helped organise mass anti-government demonstrations last year.
They were among 21 people detained last Tuesday in a police investigation into allegations of a coup. Eight of the detained including a prominent businessman had already been arrested.
Media reports said a secret plan seized during the raid called for illegal protests on July 7th across 40 provinces, assassinations and attacks on security forces.
It was reported the two former generals were suspected of being members of a shadowy, ultra-nationalist secularist group known as Ergenekon, which was already under investigation.
Turkey, predominantly Muslim but officially secular and seeking to join the European Union, has had four military coups against elected government in the last 50 years.
No top generals have been arrested for political reasons during that time.