Turkey sentences 34 to life in jail over Erdogan death plot
Istanbul: A Turkish court handed life sentences to 34 people convicted of plotting to assassinate President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a luxury Aegean hotel during last year’s failed coup.
The defendants, who include senior military officers, were each given four life sentences at the trial in the southwestern city of Mugla, state-run media said yesterday.
They include former Brig-Gen Gokhan Sahin Sonmezates who was accused of directing the plot. Former elite commando Zekeriya Kuzu, who was famously found hiding in a cave four days after the failed coup, also received a life term.
Another key figure in the trial, Erdogan’s former military aide-decamp Ali Yazici, was sentenced to 18 years in jail. Just one suspect, former Lt-Col Huseyin Yilmaz, was acquitted.
The number of sentences for a total of 47 suspects may yet go up as the verdict is read out.
The trial began on Feb 20 and is one of many such processes taking place across Turkey to try those who allegedly took part in the failed bid to oust Erdogan on July 15, 2016.
Some verdicts have already been handed out in lower-profile cases but it is the first ruling involving alleged top plotters.
The failed coup left 249 people dead, not including the putschists and the authorities have vowed no compromise in bringing those involved to justice.
Over 50,000 people have been arrested under the state of emer- gency imposed following the coup bid during a heavily criticised crackdown which has raised fears over Turkey’s justice system in the West.
Turkey accuses Pennsylvaniabased Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen of orchestrating the attempted coup. Gulen, a former Erdogan ally turned arch-foe, strongly denies Ankara’s claims. — AFP