A Turkish court on Wednesday Oct 04,2017 handed life sentences to 40 people convicted of plotting to assassinate President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a luxury Aegean hotel during last year's failed coup.
Thirty-one defendants, including senior military officers, were each given four life sentences at the trial in the southwestern city of Mugla, the private Dogan news agency reported.
They include former brigadier general Gokhan Sahin Sonmezates who was accused of directing the plot. Former elite commando Zekeriya Kuzu, who was famously found hiding in a cave four days after the failed coup, also received a life term.
A further nine defendants each received a single life sentence, Dogan added.
Another key figure in the trial, Erdogan's former military aide-de-camp Ali Yazici, was sentenced to 18 years in jail. Just one suspect out of 47 in total, former lieutenant colonel Huseyin Yilmaz, was acquitted.
The trial began on February 20 and is one of many such processes taking place across Turkey to try those who allegedly took part in the failed bid to oust Erdogan on July 15, 2016.
Some verdicts have already been handed out in lower-profile cases but it is the first ruling involving alleged top plotters.
The failed coup left 249 people dead, not including the putschists, and the authorities have vowed no compromise will be made in bringing those involved to justice.
They include former brigadier general Gokhan Sahin Sonmezates who was accused of directing the plot. Former elite commando Zekeriya Kuzu, who was famously found hiding in a cave four days after the failed coup, also received a life term.
A further nine defendants each received a single life sentence, Dogan added.
Another key figure in the trial, Erdogan's former military aide-de-camp Ali Yazici, was sentenced to 18 years in jail. Just one suspect out of 47 in total, former lieutenant colonel Huseyin Yilmaz, was acquitted.
The trial began on February 20 and is one of many such processes taking place across Turkey to try those who allegedly took part in the failed bid to oust Erdogan on July 15, 2016.
Some verdicts have already been handed out in lower-profile cases but it is the first ruling involving alleged top plotters.
The failed coup left 249 people dead, not including the putschists, and the authorities have vowed no compromise will be made in bringing those involved to justice.
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