UPDATE - Life-time jail sought for Russian ambassador's culprits

UPDATES WITH DETAILS OF COURT HEARING

By Baris Kilic

ANKARA (AA) - A Turkish prosecutor on Thursday sought life imprisonment for defendants accused of taking part in the assassination of a former Russian ambassador to Turkey in 2016.

On Dec. 10, 2016, Andrei Karlov was addressing people at an event in the Turkish capital Ankara when he was shot dead by an off-duty police officer linked to Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group responsible for 2016's failed coup in Turkey.

A court in the capital Ankara heard 28 defendants as prosecutors sought multiple aggravated life sentences for eight of them over charges of attempting to overthrow the constitutional order, murder, and acts of terrorism.

The prosecution claimed the FETO terror group and "foreign powers" were behind the assassination and they sought to destabilize Turkish-Russian relations and even push the two countries to "the brink of war".

Fetullah Gulen, the terrorist group's fugitive ringleader, is also named among the defendants.

FETO and its U.S.-based head orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 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.

* Writing by Ali Murat Alhas