Prosecutors in Turkey charged 86 people on Monday with plotting to overthrow the government, in a widening investigation into a shadowy far-right organisation with alleged links to retired military officers.

The investigation into Ergenekon is widely viewed as part of a long-running power struggle between the government, with its Islamic leanings, and the secular elite, including the military. It is also being linked to a judicial process against the government that could see the ruling AK party shut down and its leaders, including Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, banished from public life.