Turkey puts Gulen, 269 others on trial over coup bid

ANKARA // Turkey opened the biggest trial yet over the failed July coup aimed at ousting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and on Monday tried 270 suspects including the alleged mastermind Fethullah Gulen.

US-based Islamic preacher Mr Gulen was charged in absentia and accused of ordering the failed July 15 coup - an accusation he strongly denies.

The movement Mr Gulen leads has also been accused of being a “terror organisation” although the group insists it is a peaceful organisation promoting moderate Islam.

The suspects, 152 of whom are in pre-trial detention, include ex high-ranking military officials like former Aegean army command chief of staff major general Memduh Hakbilen, the state news agency Anadolu reported. Also going on trial was ex-Nato land commander chief of staff major general Salih Sevil.

Those on trial in the western city of Izmir face multiple charges including being a member of the “armed terror group”.

Turkey has repeatedly asked the United States to extradite Mr Gulen, who has been living in self-imposed exile there since 1999.

The previous administration of Barack Obama had insisted that a possibly slow legal process should take its course but Ankara is hoping for a more eager response to its extradition request from the new president Donald Trump.

Mr Gulen previously went on trial in absentia in January last year over corruption allegations.

The Turkish justice ministry also sent new evidence to Washington for Mr Gulen’s return including the indictment for the Izmir case, Anadolu reported.

The indictment includes witness statements alleging that Mr Gulen was to be presented with the plans for the coup by Adil Oksuz for his approval, the agency added.

Turkish officials have said that theology lecturer Mr Oksuz was the so-called “imam” of the plot and in charge of coordinating between Mr Gulen and the army.

Mr Oksuz was detained in the aftermath of the coup but subsequently released. He is now on the run.

Other charges against the suspects include seeking to prevent parliament performing its duty as well as attempting to remove the constitutional order, the agency said.

The suspects face life imprisonment if convicted in a trial expected to take two months, the Hurriyet newspaper reported.

A special courtroom was built to accommodate the size of the trial and security was tight.

Intensive security measures included a drone above the courthouse, bomb-sniffing dogs and commando units.

Previous trials have opened in Istanbul and smaller cases in other provinces in what is expected to be the largest legal process in the country’s history.

Some 43,000 people are under arrest ahead of trial in a large-scale crackdown within a state of emergency declared after the coup which remains in place.

On Monday, 10 more soldiers were arrested in connection with the Gulen movement, Anadolu reported.

* Agence France-Presse