A Turkish court charged seven senior military officers on Wednesday in an alleged plot to topple the Islamist-rooted government, a move that is likely to further rile financial markets.

The court also ordered the officers to be jailed pending trial.
 

The investigation has fuelled tensions between the ruling AK Party and the secularist armed forces, whose leadership held emergency talks on Tuesday to discuss what they described as a "serious situation".
 

The seven officers comprise four admirals, two retired and two serving; one retired brigadier general and two retired colonels, state-run Anatolian news agency said.
 

Pending the writing of an indictment, they face preliminary charges of terror group membership and attempting to overthrow the government by force.
 

The Turkish lira fell to a seven-month low on Tuesday and weakened even further in early trade on Wednesday. Bonds and the stock exchange also have fallen.
 

Police detained some 50 officers in a dawn sweep on Monday in an unprecedented operation against the military, which has unseated four governments in the last 50 years but whose power has been eroded by reforms designed to facilitate Turkey's application to join the European Union.

Threat to secular system
The ruling AK Party, which secularists suspect is trying to undermine European Union candidate Turkey's secular system through a gradual Islamisation of society, also is embroiled in a deep row with the secularist judiciary.
 

Retired commanders of the air force and navy and a former deputy armed forces chief are among those detained at police headquarters and are awaiting questioning by prosecutors.
 

Six officers were released from custody on Tuesday after questioning.
 

The entire military leadership, including serving commanders of each branch of service, met on Tuesday to "assess the serious situation that has arisen", the General Staff said in a statement on its website. It did not provide further details.
 

The police operation was triggered by a report in Taraf newspaper last month over the so-called "Sledgehammer" plan, allegedly drawn up in 2003. The military has said the plan was just a scenario drawn up for an army seminar.

Military provocation
Taraf published copies of documents it said showed officers had plotted to provoke Greek fighter jets into shooting down a Turkish military jet, and to plant bombs in Istanbul mosques.
 

Retired military officers are among around 200 people indicted for planning separate plots organised by a far-right group known as Ergenekon.
 

Critics say the Ergenekon trial is being used to target political opponents, an accusation the government rejects.
 

Source: Reuters