Turkey: Over 600 get jail time over defeated coup

By Cemil Murat Budak and Ismet Karakas

ANKARA

Since February 2017, over 600 people convicted in the capital Ankara of involvement in the July 2016 defeated coup in Turkey have received prison sentences ranging from about a decade to heavy life, according to an Anadolu Agency data analysis.

The Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Thirteen coup cases have ended since Feb. 6, 2017, when the first coup-plotter appeared before a judge in Ankara.

Eighteen putschists were given aggravated life sentences by Ankara’s 14th Heavy Penal Court for the premeditated murder of Turkish army officer Omer Halisdemir.

Halisdemir -- who was martyred after shooting dead a senior coup-plotter -- became a symbol of the Turkish nation's resistance to the defeated coup.

At the 13th Heavy Penal Court, 27 convicts were given aggravated life sentences, while 20 others received life sentences for the incidents at the 58th Artillery Regiment Command in Ankara’s Polatli district during the coup bid.

Other 217 suspects were given prison sentences of about 12-20 years for aiding the violation of the Constitution. Sixty-four others were released by the court.

Range of sentences

Also, 52 suspects who manned rogue army tanks on the streets of the capital appeared before judges at the 18th Heavy Penal Court, where 11 were given aggravated life sentences, 27 got life sentences, and 14 got various prison terms.

Eleven suspects who were performing their military service were released by the court.

In a case involving the detention of Presidential Secretary General Fahri Kasirga during the coup attempt, the 13th Heavy Penal Court gave 18 convicts aggravated life sentences plus 12 years, while five got life sentences plus 10 years.

Former Col. Muhsin Kutsi Baris, an ex-former commander with the Presidential Guard Regiment, was also given 12 years in prison at the same hearing.

Separately, 13 convicts were given heavy life sentences, while 15 others got life sentences from the 13th Heavy Penal Court for their activities at the Turk Telekom building in Ulus, Ankara. One suspect was also released.

For their actions at the Coast Guard Command, 23 convicts were given life terms, while two others were given heavy life sentences by the 17th Heavy Penal Court. Three others were released.

Ankara’s 14th High Criminal Court sentenced 13 suspects, including eight former soldiers and five civilians, to aggravated life sentences for trying to cut the signal feed of Turkish satellite operator TURKSAT during the defeated coup.

The Ankara Courthouse gave 11 suspects aggravated life sentences, and over six years in prison to four others for membership in an armed terror organization.

In the kidnapping case of retired Gen. Kamil Basoglu, the former head of the Doctrine Command, the 17th Criminal Court gave life sentences to five former soldiers, and two others got nine-year sentences.

Four former officers -- including ex-squadron leaders and a former lieutenant -- who ran over civilians with tanks got aggravated life sentences from the 20th Heavy Penal Court.

A total of 64 Turkish Military Academy students were given life sentences, including four aggravated life sentences, by the 17th Heavy Penal Court, which also released 100 others for having no intention of committing a crime.

Also, the 13th Heavy Penal Court gave 22 people life sentences for tactivities at the Special Air Regiment, while 11 were got 12 additional years in prison for deprivation of liberty.

Separately, 47 suspects, including two former rear admirals, were given heavy life sentences for their activities at the Turkish Naval Forces Command, while 18 others got life sentences.