Over 2,000 suspects given jail terms in Turkey coup trials: Ankara
ANKARA
Turkish courts have so far handed jail terms to more than 2,000 suspects over the failed 2016 coup aimed at unseating President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Justice Minister Abdülhamit Gül said on June 7.
“Out of 287 court cases, 171 have been decided: 2,140 defendants have been given jail terms and 1,478 of them have been acquitted,” Gül told state-run Anadolu Agency.
“I guess the remaining cases will be finalized by the end of 2018,” he said.
The trials are taking place throughout Turkey and include people from various professions and backgrounds.
Thousands of people have been arrested, including military and civilian bureaucrats, journalists, civil society representatives and academics accused of having links to outlawed leftist groups or what the authorities call the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), widely believed to have orchestrated the coup attempt, which left at least 250 killed and many more injured.
The magnitude of the crackdown has been widely criticized by the west but Ankara insists the raids are needed to rid Turkey of what Erdoğan describes as the “virus” created by the infiltration of Gülen followers into key Turkish institutions.
