It was not immediately clear whether the retired generals and admiral would face trial over the plot but the prosecutor in charge said he had released two of them because there was no risk they would flee abroad.

The former heads of Turkey's navy and air force, Ozden Ornek and Ibrahim Firtina, were allowed to walk free, but the army's former number two, Ergin Saygun, was ordered to regularly report to police, media reports said.

"I came here to clarify some misunderstandings on issues that were being presented as facts" against the armed forces, Firtina told reporters outside the Istanbul court house after his release.

"I believe I have done this satisfactorily and I am with you now," he added.

Prosecutor Turan Collakkadi said Firtina and Ornek were released because there was no risk they would flee abroad.

"We had questioned them in December. There was no attempt to tamper with evidence. Since they are still residing at the same addresses..., we released them on the grounds that they will not run away," Colakkadi was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as saying.

The trio's release followed a statement issued after crisis talks between President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Chief of Staff Ilker Basbug that said "the problems will be resolved within the constitutional order."

Prime Minister limited his comments to "it was a very good meeting."

Gul called the talks after the army spoke of a "serious situation" following the arrest Monday of some 50 serving and retired officers over an alleged plan to overthrow the Islamist-rooted government in 2003.

The probe marked a new low in ties between government and military, already strained since last year amid allegations that army members made a series of plans to discredit and unseat the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the offshoot of a now-banned Islamist movement.

AKP supporters say the army, which has unseated four governments and wielded considerable political influence, must be forced to stop meddling in politics.

Opponents allege the AKP is trying to disable the army and realise its alleged Islamist ambitions under the guise of democratisation.

Basbug himself has decried a campaign to smear the military, while repeatedly pledging his commitment to democracy.

Earlier Thursday, the Istanbul court ruled that another eight people should be jailed pending trial, bringing the number of detained suspects to 20, Anatolia news agency reported. A total of 12 suspects have been released.

The purported plot, codenamed "Operation Sledgehammer", is said to have been drawn up in 2003 at the Istanbul-based First Army, shortly after the AKP came to power.

It is unknown whether the suspects made any move to activate the plan, first reported in January by the Taraf newspaper, which routinely targets the army.

The plot allegedly involved plans to bomb mosques and provoke tensions with Greece to force the downing of a Turkish jet, thus discrediting the government and leading to its downfall.

The army has denied the existence of a coup plot.

Army members are already among dozens of defendants in a long-running case against a purported secularist network that allegedly planned to spark unrest and pave the way for a military coup against the AKP.

But the probe's credibility waned as police began arresting journalists, writers and academics known as AKP critics, sparking accusations that it has degenerated into a campaign to silence the secularist opposition.

Turkey's chief prosecutor said last week he was examining whether the government exerts pressure on the judiciary, a move that may in theory result in a bid to seek AKP's closure at the constitutional court.

In 2008, the AKP narrowly escaped being banned for violating Turkey's secular system.

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