The indictment of 86 people, including businessmen, journalists and retired army officers, on coupplotting charges is clear evidence of the scale of the political crisis now gripping Turkey.

The defendants are accused of planning an ultra-nationalist insurrection against the government of the ruling Justice and Development party, the Islamic AKP. Prosecutors are preparing cases against several others, including two ex-generals arrested this month. The investigators suspect the plotters of planning violent outrages to create conditions for army intervention.