Turkey: Suspects in assassination plot to stay in jail

By Levent Kisi and Durmus Genc

MUGLA, Turkey (AA) - Dozens of suspects accused of trying to assassinate the president during last year’s coup attempt will remain in jail pending their trial, a court in southwestern Turkey ruled Friday.

Forty-four members of the military squad involved in the plot -- who are believed to have been ordered to capture or kill President Recep Tayyip Erdogan -- were previously remanded in custody to face trial.

The 2nd Heavy Penal Court in Mugla also decided that Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, who is also Erdogan’s son-in-law, can join the trial as a plaintiff.

Last July 15, in the midst of the coup attempt, Erdogan told the nation on live television that he had narrowly escaped an attack on his life when the hotel in Marmaris where he had been staying was bombed only 15 minutes after he left.

Turkey survived a deadly coup attempt on July 15 by rogue elements within the military that killed 249 people and injured nearly 2,200 others.

Summoned by Erdogan, citizens valiantly took to the streets that night and became the biggest factor in ensuring the failure of the attempted overthrow of a democratically elected government.

Turkey's government has repeatedly said the coup attempt was organized by U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gulen and his Fetullah Terrorist Organization.

Gulen is accused of a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state.