28 coup plotters likely to get life sentence in Turkey

By Mehmet Tosun

ANKARA

A Turkish prosecutor on Monday has demanded aggravated life sentences for 28 suspects allegedly involved in last year's defeated coup attempt.

The suspects who appeared in the courtroom allegedly attempted to take over the Turk Telekom building in capital Ankara on July 15, last year.

Twenty-seven of the suspects in the case were military students, while fugitive former-lieutenant colonel Omer Ergenekon, was also accused of attempting to abolish constitutional order in Turkey.

The court on Monday issued an interim decision to stay the suspects' custody. The final ruling will be announced in the next hearings.

The prosecutor also accused the suspects of being a member of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

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

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.