Politics
22:30, 04-Oct-2017
Turkey sentences 40 to life in jail over Erdogan death plot
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A Turkish court on Wednesday 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.
Nearly 50 defendants were on trial, which started on February 20 and is one of many such processes taking place across Turkey since the failed coup.
A total of 241 people were killed and 2,194 others were injured on the night of July 15 last year, when putschists commandeered tanks, and warplanes and helicopters attacked parliament and attempted to overthrow the government.
Thousands of military officials, pilots, police officers, civil servants, academics and even teachers were sacked from their jobs for alleged links to this case.
The Turkish government blamed the failed coup attempt on Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric who has been in self-imposed exile in the US since 1999. However, he has denied involvement and condemned the coup.
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Source(s): AFP
,Reuters