Turkish PM’s daughters file complaint to become part of Feb 28 coup plot trial

ISTANBUL

Both Esra Albayrak and Sümeyye Erdoğan have submitted their petitions to an Istanbul courthouse, along with the members of the Women and Democracy Association (KADEM) non-governmental organization. DHA Photo

The daughters of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have filed petitions to become a party in the trial of the military intervention of Feb. 28, 1997, often described as a “post-modern coup.”

Both Esra Albayrak and Sümeyye Erdoğan have submitted their petitions to an Istanbul courthouse, along with the members of the Women and Democracy Association (KADEM), daily Hürriyet reported Feb. 20.

The complainants demand to become a party in the trial on the grounds that they were unable to continue their studies in Turkey due to the restrictions of the era.

“We are closely following the Feb. 28 post-modern coup trial. This trial, which has many victims, has not been [given its due importance]. This trial, which unfortunately seems abandoned, is not only the trial of those who have been designated as victims,” said a spokesman of KADEM during a press statement in the front of Istanbul’s Kartal courthouse.

All the suspects were released under probationary conditions in the trial, including many top figures of the military. The case involved a total of 103 suspects facing accusations of overthrowing the Turkish government of the Welfare Party (RP) by force, including the then-Chief of General Staff Gen. İsmail Hakkı Karadayı.

KADEM said they expected to follow the case in the upcoming hearings to represent women that have been victimized.

In the final indictment sent to the court on May 22, the prosecutors designated then-Deputy Prime Minister Tansu Çiller and then-Interior Minister Meral Akşener as the leading victims in the case.