Coup plot trial stages marriage proposal

ISTANBUL - Doğan News Agency

A defendant lawyer in the ongoing “Poyrazköy” coup plot trial proposed to his journalist girlfriend in the courtroom yesterday, leaving the judge and trial participants nonplussed.

“Courtrooms are places where sorrow often reins supreme and where we witness the sentimental moments of children and spouses. Nonetheless, there are also moments when our hopes blossom. And my request thus pertains to a matter that will foster this hope,” said lawyer Hüseyin Ersöz, who represents Lt. Gen. Kadir Sağdıç in court.

Ersöz made his proposal following the testimony of two witnesses, as the lawyers began voicing their demands from the court, according to reports.

“A lawyer can express himself with ease and feels most comfortable in courtrooms. My first request, however, is not from your court but from somebody else. I demand, however, that she [responds to] my request not along with the verdict but with an interlocutory decision. Your honor, with your permission, I am proposing marriage to CNN Türk reporter Ms. Yeşim Kam, who is currently in the courtroom,” Ersöz said.

Following a brief pause in the courtroom, the suspects and Ersöz’s acquaintances began to applaud while Kam, the proposal’s recipient, started to cry, according to reports.

“Your request has been granted,” Chief Justice Vedat Yılmazabdurrahmanoğlu said in response.
During the courts recess Kam said she had been flabbergasted and delighted at the proposal.
Some 85 suspects are facing charges in the “Poyrazköy” probe with 11 of them arrested pending trial.