Turkey has jailed 40 people for life for plotting to assassinate President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a luxury hotel during last year’s failed coup.
The president was staying in the holiday resort of Marmaris with family on July 15 2016 when rebels launched a bid to take over the country’s military.
Forty-six people have been on trial for the alleged assassination plot since February.
Pictured: Turkish Army officers escort a man accused of attempting to kill Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
The president was staying in the holiday resort of Marmaris with family on July 15 2016 when rebels launched a bid to take over the country’s military
Forty-six people have been on trial for the alleged assassination plot since February
Outside the court in Mulga today, supporters of president Erdogan waved banners calling for the death sentence to be reintroduced
Most were ex-soldiers from the Turkish special forces, accused of launching an operation at the hotel where Mr Erdogan was on holiday.
Turkey has blamed the coup on the movement led by U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whose followers are accused of infiltrating the military and other state institutions.
Mr Gulen has condemned the coup attempt and has denied he was involved.
State television TRT said the court handed down life prison terms to 40 of the defendants. One defendant, a former lieutenant-colonel, was acquitted.
Two others, including Erdogan’s former military aide, were sentenced to 18 and 15 years in prison.
The trial against Mr Gulen, who was named as one of the defendants, and two other defendants who are on the run, will continue separately, TRT reported.
The Gulen movement is now considered a terrorist organisation in Turkey. He denies any involvement in the failed July 2016 coup.
Pictured: One of the men appearing in court accused of plotting to assassinate Turkey’s president escorted by army guards
Pictured: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (right) and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan (left)
Most were ex-soldiers from the Turkish special forces, accused of launching an operation at the hotel where Mr Erdogan was on holiday
During the night of the coup attempt, two police officers were martyred at the scene of Erdogan’s hotel in the port town of Marmaris
The defendants denied the charges against them during the trial and some complained of an unfair trial while making their final statements before the verdicts were delivered, according to state-run Anadolu Agency.
‘I believe the ruling will be a premature one. I want to be tried again in courts where the rule of law is upheld,’ the Anadolu news agency quoted former lieutenant Muhammet Burak Ipek as telling the court.
Other defendants insisted they were obeying orders from their superiors, the agency reported.
The trial was held at a trade center that was turned into a temporary court because the courthouse is too small to hold such a high-profile case.
The trial is one of several cases underway against coup plotters across Turkey.
Outside the court in Mulga today, supporters of president Erdogan waved banners calling for the death sentence to be reintroduced.
The penalty was abolished in 2004 when the country was seeking admission to the EU.
Mr Erdogan has raised the prospect of its re-introduction following the alleged plot to take his life.
Mr Erdogan, who was staying at a luxury hotel in Marmaris, south-west Turkey when rebels swooped in.
The defendants denied the charges against them during the trial and some complained of an unfair trial while making their final statements before the verdicts were delivered, according to state-run Anadolu Agency
The trial was held at a trade center that was turned into a temporary court because the courthouse is too small to hold such a high-profile case
The 62-year-old president managed to escape just moments before three choppers filled with soldiers stormed the resort.
The president received a phone call 15 minutes before from the First Army Commander Umit Dundar who assured him of his loyalty and warned him about the situation.
According to reports in the Turkish media Commander Dundar told him rebel troops were heading for his villa in the Marmaris resort to either kill him or take him prisoner.
The commander assured him of his support telling him ‘You are our legitimate president.
‘I am at your side, there is a huge coup and the situation is out of control in Ankara. Come to Istanbul and I will secure your access to the roads and accommodations there.’
But even aboard a private jet waiting in a nearby airfield he wasn’t safe as two rogue F-16 fighter jets tried to shoot down the aircraft he was in.
Two hours later Mr Erdogan was in the country’s capital in Istanbul and having rallied those loyal to him put down the coup.
Around 300 people died and more than 2,100 were injured in the conflict.