ISTANBUL: A Turkish court sentenced 72 defendants to life in prison on Thursday for their role in killing 34 people when rogue soldiers seized control of a suspension bridge in Istanbul two years ago during an attempted coup, state media said.

The court sentenced the 72 defendants, who included a colonel and major in the Turkish military, for “attempting to destroy constitutional order”. Another 27 defendants were sentenced to more than 15 years in prison for helping that effort, according to state-run Anadolu news agency.

Anadolu said they did not accept the charges against them and requested acquittal. Forty-four defendants were acquitted.

The defendants in the case were also originally charged with deliberately killing civilians who heeded a call from President Tayyip Erdogan to challenge the coup plotters after they closed off the bridge across the Bosphorus Strait.

At least 250 people were killed across Turkey, many of them unarmed civilians, when military personnel attempted to topple Erdogan’s government on July 15, 2016, commandeering tanks, warplanes and helicopters and bombing parliament. The verdicts come as Turkey prepares to commemorate the anniversary of the coup attempt on Sunday, and as Erdogan celebrates an election victory which made him the first holder of an all-powerful executive presidency.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2018