A Turkish court Thursday released a former general and four other suspects pending trial over a 1997 bloodless coup that toppled the country's first Islamist head of government, media said.

 

Cevik Bir, considered the "mastermind" of the coup plot, was arrested in April 2012 along with 102 others on charges of "overthrowing the Turkish government by force."

 

The court in Ankara freed the suspects on the grounds that all evidence had already been gathered and they did not pose a flight risk since an international travel ban has been imposed on them, according to Hurriyet newspaper.

 

In 1997, the army brought down the government of Necmettin Erbakan, political mentor of current Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, without spilling a drop of blood.

 

It became known as the "postmodern" coup as no troops were involved.