Turkey: 8 get aggravated life terms over coup bid

By Huseyin Kulaoglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - An Istanbul court has given aggravated life sentences to eight former soldiers for trying to occupy the Istanbul governor office’s building on the night of the 2016 defeated coup, a judicial source said on Friday.

Istanbul's 13th High Criminal Court charged the soldiers linked to Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), including a colonel and lieutenant colonels, of attempting to overthrow the constitutional order, said the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The July 15, 2016 defeated coup orchestrated by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen left in total 250 people martyred and some 2,200 injured.

Turkey 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.