Soldiers who tried to seize Istanbul airport during failed coup attempt to be tried

ISTANBUL

A court has accepted an indictment that calls for triple life sentences each for 62 soldiers accused of attempting to seize Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport during the failed July 15 coup attempt, believed to have been masterminded by the followers of the U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen. 

The indictment includes 62 suspects, 28 of whom were high-ranking soldiers and who are charged with “attempting to abrogate the constitutional order, the Turkish parliament and the government” and “membership in an armed organization.” The prosecutor sought three life sentences each for “attempting to abrogate the constitutional order, the Turkish parliament and the government” and 15 years each for the other charge.

On the night of the failed coup attempt, a tank and soldiers arrived at Sabiha Gökçen Airport at around 11 p.m. in order to seize it but were prevented from doing so. An investigation was launched after the incident, and 28 soldiers are currently under arrest in connection with the incident.

The indictment also included the killing of the Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, the Tahşiye probe, December 2013 graft probes and the stopping of National Intelligence Agency (MİT) trucks in 2014.