CORRECTS - Turkey: Life terms sought for top FETO terror suspects

By Serdar Acil and Tanju Ozkaya

ANKARA (AA) – Turkish prosecutors on Wednesday urged multiple aggravated life sentences for alleged members of a group who plotted to replace the government after the 2016 defeated coup bid.

In the capital Ankara, the prosecutors recommended 252 aggravated life sentences to alleged members of the so-called “Peace at Home Council,” a sub-group of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the defeated coup.

In the main trial of former General Staff personnel, 224 defendants are being tried, including alleged members of the so-called council, which was meant to replace the government if the deadly putsch had not been defeated.

Former Air Forces Commander Akin Ozturk -- seen as the main officer who plotted the coup from within the military, is among those facing multiple aggravated life sentences, along with Mehmet Disli, formerly Chief of the General Staff Strategy Department, Ilhan Talu, former General Staff personnel chief, Ali Yazici, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s former military aide, and Hakan Evrim, former commander of Ankara’s Akinci Main Jet Base.

Prosecutors also asked the court to charge the so-called council members with martyring security forces and civilians the night of the defeated coup, violating the Constitution, deliberate killing, and attempting to assassinate the president.

The Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 2016, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara has also said FETO is behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.