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More than 270 people are on trial in the Ergenekon case
Turkey's former army chief, Gen Ilker Basbug, has been sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of plotting to overthrow the government.
Gen Basbug was among dozens of people convicted in the long-running trial of more than 270 military officers, lawyers, academics and journalists.
They were all accused of involvement in the so-called "Ergenekon" plot.
Verdicts are being read out one by one at the specially constructed courtroom. Twenty-one people have been acquitted.
Gen Basbug, who led the military between 2008 and 2010, had rejected all the charges against him.
The plot allegedly aimed to topple the Justice and Development (AK) Party government.
For some, this trial is an important step in bringing the army, which used to see itself above the law, under civilian control. However, others think that the case has been turned into a witch hunt by the government to suppress its opponents.
There are yet others, who think some of the defendants may have been involved in the mass violations of the early 1990s, but there has not been progress in investigating the link between suspects and past human rights violations.
Human rights groups say serious fair trial concerns and the prolonged pre-trial detention of some defendants have overshadowed the efforts to combat the impunity of the military.
Lengthy prison sentences were expected for many of the defendants. In a separate case when hundreds of military officers were convicted last year, three former generals were given 20-year sentences for plotting to bring down the government.
The defendants faced dozens of charges, ranging from membership of Ergenekon - an alleged underground terrorist network - to illegally possessing weapons and instigating an armed uprising against the AKP.
Prosecutors had demanded life imprisonment for Gen Basbug and 63 others, including nine other generals.
The court is sitting at the high-security Silivri prison complex, west of Istanbul, where the general is being held.
Hundreds of riot police fired tear gas to disperse some 1,000 protesters who were marching outside the courthouse, reports say.
The case is being seen as a key test in Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's showdown with secularist and military opponents.
Since Mr Erdogan came to power in 2002, hundreds of military officers - serving or retired - have been arrested.
Critics say there is little evidence for the charges and accuse the government of trying to silence its secularist opponents. Critics have complained that the Ergenekon investigation has focused on opponents of the AKP, which has Islamist roots. The government denies any such motives.
Turkey's military has long seen itself as the guarantor of the country's secular constitution.
It staged three coups between 1960 and 1980 and has a history of tension with the AKP.
The AKP is considered a successor to the Welfare Party, an Islamist party which led a 1996-97 government forced to resign by an army-led campaign.
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