UPDATES - Turkey: 18 FETO members sentenced to life

UPDATES WTIH MORE LIFE TERMS, CHANGES LEDE, HEADLINE

By Sezgin Pancar

MERSIN, Turkey (AA) – Turkish courts on Friday handed down aggravated life sentences to 18 people, including former military and police personnel, over their links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the July 2016 defeated coup, according to judicial sources.

In southern Mersin province, the 7th Heavy Penal Court sentenced eight former Turkish military officers to aggravated life terms, said the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

They were convicted for attempting to violate the constitutional order on the night of the defeated coup.

Among the convicts were Cdre. Nejat Atilla Demirhan, then-commander of Mediterranean region, and former Col. Tayfun Ergi.

The court also gave 13 FETO convicts jail terms ranging from seven-and-a-half-years to 15 years.

The convicts -- including former police personnel -- were charged for aiding the coup attempt and being members of an armed terror group.

Separately, 10 FETO members were sentenced to aggravated life terms by Istanbul’s 30th Heavy Penal Court for violating the constitutional order during incidents at the 2nd Armored Brigade Command in Istanbul’s Maltepe district.

The court also handed down a life term to a convict and a seven-and-a-half-year jail term to a FETO member.

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.

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.