Turkey begins trial of coup suspects
Of the 47 facing charges, only two admits involvement
MUGLA, TURKEY // One of the 47 suspects in an alleged plot to assassinate Turkey’s president admitted involvement in the botched coup attempt on July 15 last year as their mass trial opened yesterday.
Most of the 44 suspects who appeared in court were soldiers. Three others accused of an attempt to kill Recep Tayyip Erdogan are on the run and being tried in their absence.
The trial in the southern city of Mugla was being held under tight security, with snipers posted on rooftops and helicopters circling overhead.
Mr Erdogan, who was with his family at a hotel in the Aegean resort of Marmaris on the night of the coup attempt, said he was 15 minutes from death.
Turkish officials said the attempt to kill Mr Erdogan was a key part of a plot they alleged was masterminded by the USbased cleric Fethullah Gulen and his so-called Fethullah terror organisation, Feto. Mr Gulen denied any involvement.
One of the most senior soldiers on trial, former Brig Gen Gokhan Sahin Sonmezates, denied any link to Mr Gulen, describing his organisation as a perversion. Mr Sonmezates said he believed he was part of an action by the Turkish army. “My motivation was to protect my country,” he told the court.
A second suspect, former Maj Sukru Seymen, admitted: “Yes, I conducted a coup. Even if I get the death penalty, it won’t hurt me.”
He also insisted that he was not a Gulen follower, but an admirer of Turkey’s secular founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
Mr Gulen is one of the three accused in the assassination plot trial who is still at large. Ankara has repeatedly demanded that the United States extradite him.
The trial was being held in a conference centre rather than a standard courtroom to accom- modate the number of defendants. They were placed at the centre, surrounded by dozens of soldiers with batons.
The initial phase should last until March 15.
Prosecutors have sought multiple life sentences for each of the 47 suspects, who include an alleged “hit squad” of 37 soldiers.
Many were found hiding in the mountains above Marmaris, even in caves, in the days after the coup attempt that left 248 dead besides the plotters. About 43,000 people have been arrested since the coup in a massive crackdown on followers of Mr Gulen.