2 soldiers bag life sentences over failed coup attempt

January 5, 2017 7:29 PM

The soldiers were found guilty of attempting to remove the regime envisioned by the constitution through the application of violence,’’ it quoted the court as saying.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Istanbul nightclub attack was an attempt "to destroy our country's morale and create chaos by deliberately targeting our nation's peace"

A court in the eastern Turkish city of Erzurum, has sentenced two high-ranking soldiers to life in prison on Thursday, a media report said,

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It was the first sentences to be handed down after 2016’s failed coup in Turkey.

However, the suspects had denied the charges.

The government has accused supporters of self-exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen of being behind the July 15 coup attempt; though Gulen has said he was not involved.

According to the government, no fewer than 246 lives were lost in the unsuccessful military coup.

A final death toll of coup plotters has not been released.

Since July, the government has moved to sideline thousands of civil servants, judges, soldiers and journalists, drawing condemnation from the West.

It noted that as many as 41,000 people have been detained.

According to media report, investigators ordered the arrest of 380 business people, 110 of whom are thought to be abroad, with raids carried out on the homes and offices of the suspects.