Turkish court sentences 121 coup suspects to life

A Turkish court has handed down life sentences to 121 people for taking part in the 2016 attempted coup.

The court in Ankara sentenced 86 Fetullah Terrorist Organisation (FETO) suspects to aggravated life imprisonment for attempting to violate the constitution while 35 individuals associated with FETO were given life sentences for the same crime.

A heavy penal court in Ankara was sentencing in the case against the defendants' illegal actions at the Turkish Gendarmerie Command in the capital, Ankara, during the coup bid.

Under the same ruling, former colonel Erkan Oktem, who injured then-head of the counter-terrorism department, Turgut Aslan, on night of July 15, 2016, was sentenced to nine aggravated life sentences plus 20 years for murder in the first degree and attempted murder.

An aggravated life sentence has tougher terms of detention. It was brought in to replace the death penalty which Turkey abolished in 2004.

Failed coup of 2016

FETO and its US-based leader, Fetullah Gulen, are accused of orchestrating the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which killed 251 people and nearly 2,200 injured.

Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul last week said 15 coup-related trials continued out of a total of 289 in what is the biggest legal process in Turkey's modern history.

Read more: How Turkey confronted July 15 plot with prompt legal action

FETO is behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.

Tens of thousands of people have been arrested over links to Gulen, while over 100,000 have been sacked or suspended from the public sector due to similar suspicions.

Read more: US consular employee convicted in Turkey for terror links