News / Turkey

Turkish court gives life sentences to dozens over 2016 botched putsch

Wednesday, 21 November 2018 4:57 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 21 November 2018 5:01 PM ]

Paramilitary police and special force members walk outside the courthouse as nearly 500 suspects, including a number of generals and military pilots, accused of leading the July 2016 coup attempt and carrying out attacks from an air base in Ankara, arrive for trial in Ankara, Turkey, on August 1, 2017. (Photo by the Associated Press)

A court in Turkey has handed down aggravated life sentences to dozens of people on charges of involvement in the failed July 2016 coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which the Ankara government accuses to have been masterminded by US-based opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Judicial sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Ankara's 20th High Criminal Court passed the rulings against 74 defendants on Wednesday after they were charged with “attempting to disrupt the constitutional order.”

During the botched putsch, a faction of the Turkish military declared that it had seized control of the country and the government of Erdogan was no more in charge. The attempt was, however, suppressed a few hours later.

Ankara has since accused Gulen of having orchestrated the coup. The opposition figure is also accused of being behind a long-running campaign to topple the government via infiltrating the country’s institutions, particularly the army, police and the judiciary.

Gulen has denounced the “despicable putsch” and reiterated that he had no role in it.

“Accusations against me related to the coup attempt are baseless and politically-motivated slanders,” he said in a statement.

In this file picture, Turkish cleric and opposition figure Fethullah Gulen speaks to members of the media at his residence in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, the United States. (Photo by the Associated Press)

The 77-year-old cleric has also called on Ankara to end its “witch hunt” of his followers, a move he says is aimed at “weeding out anyone it deems disloyal to President Erdogan and his regime.”

Turkish officials have frequently called on their US counterparts to extradite Gulen, but their demands have not been taken heed of.

Turkey, which remains in a state of emergency since the coup, has been engaged in suppressing the media and opposition groups suspected to have played a role in the failed coup.

Tens of thousands of people have been arrested in Turkey on suspicion of having links to Gulen and the failed coup. More than 110,000 others, including military staff, civil servants and journalists, have been sacked or suspended from work over the same accusations.

The international community and rights groups have been highly critical of the Turkish president over the massive dismissals and the crackdown.

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