Turkey: The Trial Of The Alleged Instigators Of The Putsch

In Turkey, the trial of more than 200 suspected instigators of the missed putsch of 15 July last opened on Monday 22 May under high security in a prison near Ankara. The alleged brains of the coup attempt, including some 30 ex-generals of the Turkish army, face justice.


Among the 221 accused, some were entitled to special treatment on Monday morning: 48 men were taken to court on foot, each escorted by two gendarmes and a heavily armed soldier.

A few tens of meters, a small crowd of a hundred people demanded the death penalty of the accused, some of them throwing a rope tied to them asking for their hanging. This trial concerns, in particular, the brains suspected of the coup d'etat, in particular, 38 generals. Among them, the former commander of the Air Force presented as the real organizer of the coup attempt against Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Their trial is expected to last several weeks in this huge tribunal built to judge the alleged coup plotters. They are accused of wanting to overthrow the government and have murdered 250 Turkish citizens killed on the night of 15 July. They all incur a life sentence for each of the 3,000 indictments. The heaviest penalty ever required in the history of Turkish justice.