Turkish leader accused of witch-hunt as army coup plotter is jailed for life
Police fire teargas at protesters outside court as critics say Recep Tayyip Erdoğan used trial to weaken military
Turkey is facing angry divisions after a former armed forces commander was sentenced to life imprisonment with 16 other retired officers for their role in an alleged terrorist plot to overthrow the country’s Islamist-rooted government.
How the Ergenekon Verdicts May Deepen Turkey’s Political Divide
TIME
The defendants were charged with forming a clandestine ultra-nationalist ?terrorist organization? dubbed Ergenekon, the name of a mythic valley in Central Asia where, in lore, the Turkic peoples originated. Their alleged plan was to feed social unrest
My conscience is clear, says Turkey’s former army chief sentenced to life in prison
Former Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ released a short statement following the Ergenekon verdict
Turkish Court Hands Down Sentences in Coup PlotA local court sentenced 10 defendants, including a former army chief of staff, to life in prison for their role in plotting to overthrow Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Financial Times
The case is one of the most politically charged in the country’s recent history ? among the defendants were Turkey’s former chief of staff, journalists and academics. Here are five questions and answers about the alleged coup plot, known as Ergenekon.
US, EU avoid to comment on Ergenekon verdicts, concerned for judicial process
The U.S. and the EU declined to comment Aug.5 on the verdicts of Turkey’s Ergenekon coup plot case
19 sentenced to life in Turkey’s Ergenekon coup plot trial, including ex-military chief
Turkey?s former commander İlker Başbuğ and 18 other people receive life sentences on coup plot charges in the Ergenekon trial that lasted almost five years
Main opposition deputy Haberal discharged from Silivri Prison following his release
Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Mehmet Haberal left Silivri Prison hours after the court ordered his release in the Ergenekon trial verdict
Ergenekon trial rulings ‘illegitimate,’ says main opposition leader
Hurriyet Daily News
Turkish main opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has slammed the severe sentences announced in the Ergenekon trial verdict Aug. 5, calling the court’s rulings ?illegitimate.? Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli also joined
Deputy PM says reactions against Ergenekon verdict ’emotional’
Hurriyet Daily News
The reactions against the court’s verdict on the Ergenekon trial are ?emotional,? Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç said Aug. 5 during a press conference after a Cabinet meeting in Ankara. Arınç added that the government “could not have an opinion” on
A verdict that is bound to be divisive
The Ergenekon verdicts had not come through yet when this piece was being written. But whatever the outcome ? the full details are in today?s Hürriyet Daily News ? it was bound to be controversial.
Mission accomplished with collateral damage
There was little room for a surprise anyway; the Istanbul Specially Authorized 13th Criminal Court ruled on August 5 for life imprisonment of 17 people
The case in which 275 defendants have been accused of plotting a government coup is one of the most politically charged cases in Turkey?s recent history
The Turkish prime minister?s intolerance of criticism is in danger of destroying what is left of the independence of the press and broadcasters
Turkish court returns verdicts over Ergenekon plot against government
Security forces fire teargas in fields near court building as defendants’ supporters protest against five-year trial
A Turkish court has begun returning verdicts on nearly 300 defendants accused of plotting to overthrow the government, handing prison sentences of up to 20 years to some and acquitting others.
The End of Ergenekon Saga… Or Is It?
The Ergenekon coup plot trial, considered the most important legal battle in recent Turkish history, reached an end today with severe punishments.
I won’t question if the verdicts are correct or not. But if we just look for inconsistencies, we can see that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) surely developed a twisted narrative, but might have failed to bring justice with this trial.
A court is delivering the verdicts one by one in the long-running Ergenekon trial of 270 people, most of them military officers, but also lawyers, academics and journalists, accused of plotting to overthrow the AKP government and creating chaos through targeted assassinations and other means in order to prepare the ground for a coup. The trial endgame is being held in a specially constructed courtroom under heavy guard in a field in Silivri. Even the families of the accused are not allowed to attend and police are shooting teargas a the thousand-strong group of supporters and protesters trying to approach the building across the field.
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