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A Turkish court sentenced 338 people, including former pilots and others, to life in prison for conspiring to topple President Recep Tayyip Erdogan four years ago. According to AFP, on July 15, 2016, some 500 people were accused of a military coup that failed to overthrow the government from an air base near the capital, Ankara.
265 people were killed in a failed coup attempt with tanks, helicopters and fighter jets to take control of the main government office of the army; Of these, 104 were coup plotters. The rest are police and civilians.
It was the most important lawsuit in the country’s courts for the failed Turkish coup. Because in this case, thousands of people were accused of being involved in the attempted coup.
Allegedly involved in the coup, the men are supporters of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim missionary and businessman based in the United States. At least 25 pilots of state-of-the-art F-16 fighter jets have been sentenced to life imprisonment, according to reports from Turkish media, including Anadolu. They are not likely to be paroled.
According to an Al-Jazeera report, there were 475 defendants in today’s case. 365 of them were in police custody. Charges have also been brought against ten civilians in the case. In addition to then-air chief Akin Ozturk, many at the Akin air base near Ankara have been accused of assassinating President Erdogan and bombing government buildings, including parliament.
On the night of the coup, several other senior military officials, including Hulusi Akar, the then head of Turkey’s army and current Defense Minister, were detained for hours at military bases.
When part of the army took to the streets, they clashed with the police. President Erdogan claimed in a speech the next morning that the situation was under government control.
Turkey, a member of NATO and a member of the European Union, declared a state of emergency following the failed military coup and launched a massive crackdown, prompting Western allies in Ankara.
According to the country’s interior minister, some 292,000 people were arrested, accusing Gulen of being a supporter of the coup. Of these, around one lakh people are in jail while they are being tried.
One and a half lakhs of government workers were fired. About 20,000 lost their jobs in the army. So far, the country’s courts have sentenced more than 2,500 people to life in prison.
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