Turkish court upholds life terms of Nazlı Ilıcak, Ahmet Altan, Mehmet Altan

ISTANBUL

An Istanbul court of appeal on Oct. 2 upheld aggravated life sentences of six suspects, including journalists, over terrorism charges.

Nazlı Ilıcak, Ahmet Altan, Mehmet Altan, Fevzi Yazıcı, Yakup Şimşek and Şükrü Tuğrul Özşengül were convicted for attempting to overthrow the constitutional order, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Tuesday.

All suspects were accused of being linked to FETÖ, the group which is widely believed to have orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 that killed 250 people and injured nearly 2,200 others.

They had appealed to the high court for their release, but the Istanbul Second Court of Appeals upheld their sentence, the source added.

In late June, columnist and academic Mehmet Altan was released under judicial control upon his appeal to the penal department of Istanbul’s regional court of justice.

Ankara accuses FETÖ, and its United States-based leader Fetullah Gülen of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.