Crowd throws eggs, nooses at Erdoğan assassination attempt case suspects outside court in Turkey’s south 

MUĞLA

AA photo

A group outside the courthouse in the southwestern province of Muğla threw eggs and nooses at suspects arriving for a hearing in the case into the assassination attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during the July 2016 coup attempt. 

Some 47 suspects are being tried in the case, 44 under arrest, for attempting to assassinate Erdoğan by raiding a hotel in Muğla’s Marmaris district. 

Nearly 300 people gathered on March 9 outside the courthouse holding banners against the U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, widely believed to have masterminded the thwarted coup. Some of them attempted to cross police security lines in order to attack the suspects at around 10 a.m.

They also carried posters of Erdoğan and Turkish flags, with banners reading: “We want the death penalty,”
“The nation won’t be divided, the call to prayer won’t be silenced,” and “Whatever happens, even if the world stands against you, we will be behind you, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.” 

While the arrested 44 suspects were being escorted to the courthouse, people in the crowd threw a poster of Gülen to the ground and ripped it up. As the intensity of the protest increased, the suspects were taken to a basement under the courthouse and brought to the courtroom from there in order to prevent crowds from attacking them.