ISTANBUL: Turkish prosecutors on Monday demanded life terms for three veteran Turkish journalists on trial over accusations of links to the 2016 failed coup, in a case that has raised new concerns for freedom of speech in the country.

The brothers Ahmet and Mehmet Altan and prominent commentator Nazli Ilicak are charged with violating the Turkish constitution in the trial, which began in June at the Istanbul criminal court.

They are accused of links to US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen who Ank­a­ra says masterminded the failed bid to oust Erdogan on July 15 last year.

Gulen denies ties to the incident, which left 249 people dead, not including the plotters. Turkey accuses his movement of being the “Fethullah Terrorist Organisation” (FETO) but supporters deny this.

The journalists have been charged with having foreknowledge of the coup bid and being involved in the sending of subliminal messages it was to happen, including an October 2015 advertising campaign by the now defunct pro-Gulen newspaper Zaman.

Ilicak, 73, was one of the very first journalists arres­ted in July after the coup bid. Briefly an MP from 1999, she wrote for several dailies including Hurriyet.

“I see FETO as a terror group. Before July 15, I did not know,” she was quoted as telling the court on Monday by private-run news agency Dogan, adding: “I am not a member of FETO.”

Ahmet Altan, 67, is a novelist and journalist who has written for some of Turkey’s leading dailies including Hurriyet and Milliyet as well as founding the now closed opposition daily Taraf.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2017