Ozgun Tiran
01 December 2019•Update: 02 December 2019
KIRKLARELI, Turkey
Latif Cicek, a coup plotter and then-lieutenant colonel who tried to bring armored military vehicles from Turkey's northwestern Kirklareli province to Istanbul to join the coup attempt in 2016, received an aggravated life imprisonment.
Cicek was the battalion commander of the 65th Mechanized Infantry Brigade in Kirklareli.
During the coup attempt, he acted in unison with another coup plotter, then-Brig. Gen. Cemalettin Dogan.
According to the chief public prosecutor's office, Cicek tried to go to Istanbul to support the coup attempt with a group of soldiers under his command and some armored military vehicles.
When his convoy arrived at the entrance of the city, it was stopped by some civilians.
He was informed about the coup attempt and asked to go back to the barrack with his convoy, but Cicek rejected the request, threatening the civilians to death.
The court found him guilty of violation of constitutional order and sentenced him to aggravated life imprisonment.
FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup on July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.
Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.
* Writing by Fahri Aksut
