Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned the army that no one was above the law as a suspect was charged and more soldiers detained in a huge inquiry into an alleged 2003 coup plot.
"Those who make plans behind closed doors to crush the people's will must see that from now on they will face justice," Erdogan said in Ankara on Friday.
"No one is above the law; no one has impunity."
The unprecedented investigation has rattled Turkey, raising fears of a showdown between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) - the offshoot of a banned Islamist movement - and the army, the self-declared guardian of the country's secular system.
The number of suspects incarcerated so far reached 33 on Friday as an Istanbul court charged an alleged leader of the plot and another retired general, remanding them in custody pending trial, Anatolia news agency said.
Prosecutors will detail the charges against Cetin Dogan, ex-commander of the First Army and Engin Alan, former head of the special forces, when they present their indictment.
Meanwhile a further 18 soldiers were rounded up across the country in a second wave of arrests since Monday, media reports said.
They were being brought to Istanbul to answer accusations of involvement in the plot to foment unrest and justify a military takeover against the AKP.
Dismissing accusations that his government was trying to discredit the army, Erdogan hailed the inquiry as a sign of improving democracy in a country where the army has unseated four
governments since 1960.
"What is happening today is normalisation ...These are the footsteps of an advanced democracy," he said.
The Turkish army has traditionally wielded significant clout on politics but this has waned under the AKP.
Military prosecutors find no evidence for allegations
Also on Friday, military prosecutors, who opened an inquiry into the alleged plot after it was first reported in January, said they had found no evidence so far to support the allegations.
"The military prosecution has failed to make any conclusion so far that the said plan and various action plans on which it is based are genuine," said a statement carried by Anatolia, adding that the probe was continuing.
The plan - codenamed Operation Sledgehammer - is said to have been drafted and discussed within the First Army in 2003, soon after the AKP came to power amid fears it would undermine the secular system.
The plot allegedly involved plans to bomb mosques and provoke tensions with Greece to force the downing of a Turkish jet, sparking political chaos and justifying a military takeover against the government.
It is unknown whether the suspects took any steps to activate the plan.
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