First Trial Session of Defendants in Turkey's Failed Coup in Istanbul

With the presence of 29 police officers, the trial of those accused of planning and executing the failed coup on July 15 in Turkey begins in a court in Istanbul. This trial is expected to become the "most extensive judicial process" in contemporary Turkish history. This is the first time that a court session related to the coup is held in the metropolitan city of Istanbul. The newspaper "Sabah" reports that the first court session regarding this matter was held in Denizli on December 27. According to Agence France-Presse, the trial process in Istanbul, which will take place on December 28 in a court at Silivri prison, is the "most significant" of its kind since July 15 and is expected to initiate the "broadest" judicial process in Turkey's history. Sabah states that the police officers are accused of being members of "a small military junta associated with the Gülen terrorist group," which attempted to overthrow the Turkish government. Ankara holds Fethullah Gülen, a critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, responsible for orchestrating and leading the summer coup, and considers the movement stemming from his ideology to be a "terrorist group." Gülen has denied the accusations against him. His presence in the United States and the failure to extradite him to Turkey has led to tensions in Ankara-Washington relations. Of the 29 police officers whose trial is beginning, 24 are in custody, one is wanted (thus the trial will be in absentia), and four have been released on bail. The prosecution has requested three life sentences for 21 of them, while the others may receive sentences ranging from seven and a half to 15 years in prison. The commencement of the trial in Istanbul comes as arrests and purges following the coup continue; on Monday, the Turkish Ministry of Interior announced the arrest of over a thousand more individuals on charges of links to the Gülen movement. More than 500 others have also been detained on charges of connections to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and other militant groups. Two days prior, it was reported that over 1,600 people had been imprisoned in the past six months for what was described as "supporting terrorist organizations" or "insulting government officials" on social media. Visual report: The coup in Turkey: The army against Erdoğan. Reports citing the acting chief of the Turkish army command indicate that more than 190 people have been killed as a result of the clashes in Turkey. Of this number, 47 were civilians and 104 were military personnel involved in the coup.