22 Gülen-linked ex-officers get life sentences
ISTANBUL – Anadolu Agency
A total of 22 former Turkish military officers were given jail terms on April 3 on charges of being members of the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), widely believed to have been behind the July 2016 failed coup in Turkey.
Istanbul’s 23rd Heavy Penal Court gave aggravated life sentences to five former officers, while jailing 17 others to life.
The former military officers were convicted of attempting to abolish the constitutional order, said a judicial source who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
Eleven people were injured during the night of July 15, 2016, when pro-coup soldiers tried to take control of Istanbul’s Kartal Bridge and Samandıra toll booth, the indictment against the former officers read.
The failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016 left 250 people killed and nearly 2,200 injured.
Ankara also accuses the Gülen network, led by U.S.-based Fethullah Gülen, of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.
