Turkish Court Sentences Dozens to Life Imprisonment for 2016 Coup Attempt

Turkey’s state media on Wednesday reported that a Turkish court sentenced dozens of people, including former soldiers attached to the presidential guard, to life in prison for their involvement in the 2016 failed coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.

The Turkish state news service Anadolu, citing judicial sources, reported 32 life sentences, including six who received terms of “aggravated life imprisonment,” meaning they must serve without the possibility of parole for at least 30 years. A total of 497 defendants had been on trial since 2017 for attempting to seize the military headquarters in Ankara, occupying the headquarters of the state broadcaster TRT, and for forcing a television broadcaster to read out a statement on behalf of the coup-plotters. The massive trial was one of hundreds of trials against suspected members of a network led by U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating the failed attempt. Gulen, a former Erdogan ally, denies the accusation.