Trial in Turkiye over failed July 15 coup attempt, Gezi Park protests ends

By Basak Akbulut Yazar

ISTANBUL (AA) - The trial of 17 defendants including Turkish businessman Osman Kavala and nine fugitives over allegations regarding the July 15, 2016 failed coup attempt in Turkiye and the 2013 Gezi Park protests came to a close Monday.

The Istanbul 30th High Criminal Court decided to hand Kavala an aggravated life sentence for "attempting to abolish the Government of the Republic of Turkiye or to partially or completely prevent it from performing its duties" in accordance with Article 312/1 of the Turkish Penal Law.

The court sentenced seven defendants -- including Mucella Yapici, a master architect at the Istanbul branch of the Chamber of Architects of Turkiye -- to 18 years in prison and issued an arrest warrant for them.

The court ruled that the files of the nine fugitive defendants, including former CIA adviser Henri Barkey, former journalist Can Dundar and Turkish actor Mehmet Ali Alabora, be separated.

Kavala faced charges regarding the Gezi Park protests – a small number of environment-related demonstrations that began on May 28, 2013 in Istanbul that later transformed into nationwide riots that left eight protesters and one police officer dead.

He was acquitted of all charges in February 2020, but an appeals court overturned that acquittal in January 2021.

He was also accused of involvement in the 2016 defeated coup in Turkiye orchestrated by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and was remanded into custody on spying charges in March 2020.