Turkey: Ex-soldiers receive life terms for coup attempt

By Basak Akbulut Yazar

ISTANBUL (AA) - A Turkish court handed down life sentences to seven convicts Friday, including five former senior soldiers, for involvement in the 2016 defeated coup, according to judicial sources.

Former Lieut. Commander Murat Cetinkaya and Tahsin Islekel; former noncommissioned officer Nihat Cengel and ex-Master Sgt. Huseyin Kayabas were sentenced by the Istanbul 23rd High Criminal Court for violating the Constitution.

Former Lieut. Commander Hakan Egemen, who buried weapons after the coup attempt was defeated, was slapped with an aggravated life sentence, also for violating the Constitution in the same case.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen is accused of orchestrating the defeated coup July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

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