Muslim�denies plane crash plot. (Hat tip: prbconservative.)

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — Treason suspect Metin Kaplan has denied allegations at the opening of his trial that he masterminded a failed plot to crash an airplane into the mausoleum of the founder of secular Turkey.

Kaplan, dubbed the “Caliph of Cologne” by his supporters, told the court in Istanbul Monday that Islam opposed terrorism and that he was not involved in any kind of terrorist activity.

“I am a Muslim … no Muslim can be a terrorist…Islam means peace,” said Kaplan, who quoted lengthy excerpts from the Koran during his testimony and at one point was ordered by the judge to keep his voice down. …

Germany extradited Kaplan to Turkey in October. His group, the Caliphate State, calls for the overthrow of Turkey’s secular government and its replacement with an Islamic state and is outlawed in Germany and Turkey.

“We said Islam is both a religion and a state. It’s both prayer and politics,” Kaplan told the court. “It’s not possible to understand how one can be afraid from just what we have said.” …

Turkish authorities allege Kaplan plotted in 1998 to fly an explosives-laden aircraft into Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s mausoleum, which covers an entire hilltop in Ankara, when thousands of officers, students and foreign dignitaries would be visiting the site for a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the secular republic.

They say the plot was foiled when Turkish police arrested 23 suspected members of Kaplan’s group the day before the ceremony. Four others charged in the case remain at large.

Kaplan, flanked by paramilitary police, told the court that allegations against him were based on testimonies of suspected Islamic militants taken under “torture.” Kaplan is accused of “armed attempt to overturn the constitutional order,” a charge that amounts to treason. If convicted, he could face life in prison.

Kaplan said his earlier call for jihad, or “holy war,” against the secular Turkish republic was misunderstood. “Jihad is a word with several meanings. Jihad does not necessarily mean war,” Kaplan said.