13 get heavy sentences over TÜRKSAT takeover during last year’s failed coup attempt
ANKARA
An Ankara court on Oct. 23 handed down aggravated life sentences to 13 people convicted of trying to cut the signal feed of Turkish satellite operator TÜRKSAT during last year’s failed coup attempt, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.
In the case of 17 people being charged over the coup bid, Ankara’s 14th High Criminal Court sentenced 13 - eight former soldiers and five civilians - to aggravated life sentences for violating the constitution.
The ex-soldiers Eray Uçkun, İbrahim Altınok, Melih Varol, Mustafa Altunay, Mesut Sancak, Fatih Arslan, Ersan Kuluclu and Osman Kemal Küçük also got an additional aggravated life sentence for their role in the deaths of two TÜRKSAT personnel, Ahmet Özsoy and Ali Karslı, on the night of the coup.
Hearings will be held separately for four other suspects in the case who remain at large: Tayfun Karaöz, Ergün Özyurt, Ismail Donat and İbrahim Yılmazbaş.
The satellite and communication agency in Ankara’s Gölbaşı district was also bombed during the night of the coup attempt. Putschists dropped four MK-82 bombs on the facility using F-16 aircraft.
The Fethullahist Terorist Organization (FETÖ) is widely believed to have orchestrated the failed coup attempt of July 15, 2016, which left 250 people killed and nearly 2,200 injured.
Ankara accuses FETÖ of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.
