Ankara: Two senior Turkish military officers were jailed for life yesterday for involvement in July’s failed coup attempt that killed almost 250 people, marking the first conviction related to the putsch, news agencies said.
The court found a colonel and a major had been assigned duties as provincial commanders after the intended overthrow of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It described them as members of a network headed by US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused of orchestrating the failed coup.
The court in city of Erzurum could not be immediately reached for comment.
The trial marked first time a court had passed sentence over the operation launched in the evening of July 15 and crushed by the morning. Parliament was bombed and armed clashes resulted in deaths of civilians and soldiers.
