Turkish ex-coast guard commander, 24 others jailed for life in coup trial
ANKARA: A Turkish court on Friday sentenced 25 people, including a former coast guard commander, to life in prison for trying to overthrow the government during a failed coup last year, state news agency Anadolu reported.
Prosecutors had charged 28 people over incidents at a naval base in the northwestern province of Kocaeli on July 15, the night of the coup attempt. Three suspects were acquitted.
The Ankara court named the coast guard commander as Hakan Ustem.
The trial was one of the first in a series of cases against people accused of involvement in the failed putsch, in which more than 240 people were killed when rogue soldiers commandeered tanks, warplanes and helicopters and attacked state institutions including Parliament.
Earlier this month, a court found 42 former soldiers guilty of trying to kill President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the coup, handing most of them life sentences.
The government blames the network of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former ally of Erdogan, for orchestrating the failed coup.
Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, has denied involvement and condemned the coup.
In Nicosia, an official source said that a Turkish naval officer who arrived in Cyprus earlier this month requesting political asylum had left the island.
It was thought to be the first time that a member of the Turkish armed forces had requested asylum in Cyprus, whose northern third is controlled by troops from Turkey.
The officer arrived at Larnaca marina on the south coast by yacht on Oct. 1 with his wife, and asked for asylum saying he was being persecuted in Turkey.
The couple were staying on their boat at the marina under police surveillance, but an official source said they have since departed Cyprus.
The government handled the matter under the radar as it was viewed as a sensitive political issue.
When asked by reporters about the issue earlier this month, Cyprus government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said he did not comment on “matters of national security.”
Turkey does not recognize the Cyprus Republic and is against any country harboring suspects linked to the July 2016 failed coup.
Official sources were reported as saying that the officer had been charged for participating in the Gulen movement.
The eastern Mediterranean island has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded the northern third in response to an Athens-inspired coup seeking union between Greece and Cyprus.