UPDATES WITH MORE SENTENCES; CHANGES DECK AND LEDE
By Filiz Kinik, Ali Cevahir Akturk and Adsiz Gunebakan
ISTANBUL (AA) - A total of 26 former soldiers, including ex-generals, were sentenced to aggravated life sentences Tuesday, while four former teachers got prison time for their involvement in the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, according to judicial sources.
Istanbul's 14th High Criminal Court convicted 12 former military personnel on charges of violating the Constitution, said the sources, who asked not be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
Separately, southeastern Gaziantep’s 10th Heavy Penal Court sentenced 14 former soldiers to aggravated life terms after convicting them of violating the constitutional order during incidents at a special forces operation base in the province’s Silopi district.
Also, a former teacher in the southern Kahramanmaras province was given 12 years in prison by the 3rd Heavy Penal Court for being a member of an armed terrorist group.
Separately, in northern Karabuk’s 1st Heavy Penal Court, two former teachers were also sentenced to 12 years in prison each, for the same crime.
In addition, one suspect was released by the capital Ankara’s 5th Criminal Court of Peace after his lawyer objected to a remand decision.
The suspect, a former intelligence section chief, suspected of forging official documents, was arrested as part of the operation against the FETO network at Hacettepe Teknokent in Ankara, a judicial source said.
The Fetullah Terrorist Organization (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.