Turkish police clash with protesters over coup trial

Protesters are blocked by Turkish soldiers as they try to march to a courthouse in Silivri, where a hearing for people charged with attempting to overthrow Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist-rooted government is due to take place August 5, 2013. Turkish court will pass judgment on Monday on nearly 300 defendants accused of plotting to topple the government in a battleground case in the decade-long conflict between Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and Turkey's secularist establishment. Security forces set up barricades around the courthouse in the Silivri jail complex, west of Istanbul, to tighten security after the defendants' supporters vowed to hold a demonstration against the five-year trial that has exposed deep divisions in Turkish society. [Photo/Agencies]

ISTANBUL -- Turkish police forces fired tear gas on anti-government protesters gathering in the areas around Silivri Courthouse, west of Istanbul, to protest against the verdicts of the major coup trial on Monday.

Turkey's most important legal battle is coming to an end on August 5 with the final hearing to decide the fate of 275 suspects, including the former chief of general staff Gen. Ilker Basbug.

The case, which began in 2007 with the discovery of 27 hand grenades in a house in Istanbul, has witnessed some of the country 's most prominent figures who had been detained and arrested.

Suspects face charges of attempting to provoke a military coup against the Islamist-leading Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Currently 275 suspects, 66 of them under arrest, are awaiting for rulings and other 33 indictments have been submitted in the course of the Ergenekon trial, which were attended by over 130 witnesses to testify at the hearings.

Massive security precautions have been imposed at the Silivri Courthouse. All highways and toll booths on the way to Silivri Courthouse were closed from the morning hours as part of security measures to block all possible demonstrations ahead of Ergenekon trial.

A small group of people had gathered in a near place of the court and the number soon began to grow. The crowds were warned by the police forces to disperse but they refused, so the police fired tear gas to disperse them.

Protesters are also growing in Istanbul's city center in Taksim square and other parts of the city.

Gendarmerie commando units have been sent to Silivri district, and the police officers began taking positions at the site from the late hours of August 4.

Even those who attempted to walk through fields to reach the Courthouse were prevented from doing so by the police and gendarmerie forces surrounding the site.

A military helicopter was flying over the site. Tent volunteers hosted to observe the trials were examined strictly by gendarmerie forces around six o'clock in the morning.