Twenty-two Turkish retired men were sentenced today to life in prison after being found to have played a leading role in the 2016 military coup attempt against the president. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which was followed by large-scale shootings in the armed forces, reports APE.
The convicted retirees are among the 497 suspects on trial in Ankara in connection with the failed coup attempt and most of whom had served during their careers in the Presidential Guard.
The state-run Anadolu news agency initially reported only four life sentences, but a lawyer for the Turkish presidency told AFP after the court hearing that a total of 22 retired men had been sentenced to life in prison.
The exact sentences against the other defendants are not clear at this time. The suspects were found guilty of many charges, most notably an attempt to overthrow the constitutional order.
The prosecutor’s office also accused them of invading the TRT facilities and forcing journalists to broadcast a coup statement, as well as attacking the army headquarters.
In November, 337 people, including Air Force officers and pilots, were sentenced to life in prison following a main trial in connection with the July 15, 2016 coup attempt.
Among those convicted were mostly pilots who bombed iconic parts of the capital Ankara, such as the parliament building, and officers and civilians who led the coup from Akinci military base.
In addition, 60 people were sentenced to various prison terms and 75 were acquitted after a trial in which almost 500 defendants appeared.
The coup of 2016
The coup attempt officially claimed the lives of 251 people, including the coup leaders, and more than 2,000 were injured. This, which marked Turkey, led to large-scale ouster and President Erdogan expanding his powers.
Turkey accuses preacher Fethullah Gulen, who has exiled himself to the United States, of being the mastermind of the coup attempt. Gulen, a former ally of the US president living in the United States, denies any involvement.
On the night of the 15th to the 16th of July 2016, Ankara was the scene of particularly violent actions by the coup leaders.
F-16 bombs targeted the National Assembly three times, as well as streets around the presidential palace and the headquarters of the special police forces.
The bombings left 68 people dead and at least 200 injured in the capital. Nine civilians were killed in an attempt to resist the coup at the entrance to the Akinci base.
Following the coup attempt, authorities have been relentlessly searching for Gulen supporters and have launched massive-scale shootings unprecedented in Turkey’s modern history. Tens of thousands of people have been arrested and more than 140,000 have been fired or made available.
Waves of arrests continue to this day, although their pace has become less frequent five years after the coup attempt.
Nearly 290 coup attempts have already been completed, and at least eight more are ongoing.
Turkish courts have so far sentenced nearly 4,500 people to life in prison, imposing life sentences on nearly 3,000 of them, according to official figures.
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