ANKARA // Turkey on Monday put on trial 221 suspects, including 27 former generals, accused of being the instigators of a failed military coup last July.
The main defendants are Gen Akin Ozturk, a former air force commander, and about 40 other alleged members of the so-called Peace at Home Council – a group on whose behalf a coup declaration was read on state television.
Other defendants include Col Ali Yazici, the former military aide to president Recep Tayyip Erdogan; Mehmet Disli, the brother of senior ruling party legislator Saban Disli; and Lt Col Levent Turkkan, who was the aide of Turkey’s chief of staff Gen Hulusi Akar.
The suspects face life prison terms if found guilty of charges that include attempting to destroy the government and the parliament, leading an armed terror group, attempting to assassinate the president and killing about 250 people, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Fethullah Gulen, a US-based preacher wanted by Turkey for allegedly orchestrating the coup, is among nine defendants who are being tried in their absence. Mr Gulen has denied any involvement in the coup attempt.
The hearings are taking place in a courthouse and prison complex in Sincan, on the outskirts of Ankara, that was built especially for the trial. Security was tight, with snipers standing guard on rooftops and a drone flying overhead.
The suspects were forced to walk along a lane toward the courthouse, held by military police officers on each arm and each protected by a commando officer. As they walked by, pro-government protesters called for the death penalty to be reinstated and for the defendants to be hanged, although the capital punishment is unlikely to be applied retroactively.
Some held up banners that demanded “the death penalty on behalf of the martyrs of the July 15 coup” while others shouted “traitors!” A rope used for hanging was thrown at one of the defendants.
“We want the death penalty, we don’t want them to be fed and housed here. We want these traitors to be buried without any flag,” said protester Cengiz Ozturk.
Turkey abolished the death penalty as part of its drive to join the European Union but Mr Erdogan has on occasion suggested it could be reimposed to deal with the coup plotters.
The trial is one of many being held across the country to judge the coup suspects. The vast Sincan courtroom, which can hold more than 1,500 people, in February hosted the opening of the trial of 330 suspects accused of murder or attempted murder on the night of July 15.
In a related development on Monday, Amnesty International released a report criticising Turkey’s government for dismissing tens of thousands of public sector employees following the coup, saying the massive crackdown had left teachers, academics, doctors, police officers and soldiers branded as “terrorists” and unable to make a living. It has called on Turkey to end the arbitrary dismissals, saying they have had devastating effects on the individuals and their families.
More than 100,000 public servants have been dismissed and banned from the civil service through decrees issued under the state of emergency for alleged connections to Mr Gulen and groups listed as terror organisations. More than 47,000 people have also been arrested for alleged links to the coup.
The government says the purge is necessary to weed out Mr Gulen’s followers.
* Associated Press and Agence France-Presse
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
The specs: 2018 Maxus T60
Price, base / as tested: Dh48,000
Engine: 2.4-litre four-cylinder
Power: 136hp @ 1,600rpm
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Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
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