Would-be Erdogan assassins get life-plus sentences

By Levent Kisi and Durmus Genc

MUGLA, Turkey (AA) - A number of suspects in last year’s plot to assassinate Turkey’s president on Wednesday were handed lengthy jail terms, including aggravated life sentences.

A court in Mugla, southwestern Turkey, heard the case of more than 40 suspects charged with attempting to assassinate President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as part of the defeated July 15, 2016 coup.

Receiving four sentences apiece were former Brig. Gen. Gokhan Sahin Sonmezates, former Maj. Sukru Seymen, and former Master Sgt. Zekeriya Kuzu -- the so-called "base imam" of Cigli’s 2nd Main Jet Base Command in Aegean province of Izmir.

The court also sentenced Ali Yazici, Erdogan’s former military aide, to 18 years in prison.

The Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen, orchestrated the foiled coup attempt, which left at least 250 people martyred and around 2,200 others wounded.

The case involved 47 suspects, including 43 who were jailed pending trial and two suspects who remain at large, all charged with being part of the "assassination team" targeting Erdogan.

The first hearing was on Feb 20.

During the night of the coup attempt, two police officers were martyred at the scene of Erdogan's hotel in the Mediterranean port town of Marmaris.

That night Erdogan told the nation on live television he had narrowly escaped with his life when the hotel was bombed 15 minutes after he left the premises.

The government 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.