Hundreds of Turkish coup plotters given life sentences

A TURKISH court sentenced hundreds of military and civilian personnel at an air base to life imprisonment yesterday, proclaiming them guilty of involvement in the 2016 failed coup against Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.

A total of 475 defendants, including some generals and fighter jet pilots at the Akinci air base, on the outskirts of the capital, Ankara, had been on trial for three years, accused of directing the coup and bombing key government buildings including a section of Turkey’s parliament. The coup resulted in 250 deaths and injured thousands. About 30 plotters were also killed.

The trial was one of two proceeding against suspected members of a network led by Fethullah Gulen, the USbased cleric, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating the failed attempt.

A total of 356 defendants were sentenced to life prison terms. The court acquitted 70 of all charges. Other defendants received prison terms ranging between six and 16 years.

The court ruled that Gulen and four other defendants still wanted by the authorities should be tried separately.

The defendants were expected to appeal against the verdicts, which were welcomed by members of Mr Erdogan’s party. “We are experiencing the joy of seeing the defendants receive their punishment,” the state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Leyla Sahin Usta, a deputy chairman of the ruling party, as saying. “This is the end of the era of coups.”

The father of one of those convicted said the court had failed to consider evidence that pointed at some trainee pilots’ innocence. “We are not happy with this verdict,” Ali Kalin said.

The trial was part of a post- coup crackdown that has imprisoned around 77,000 people and s een another 130,000 fired from government jobs.