Turkey: Ex-air force officers get life terms for coup

By Aziz Aslan

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey

Three Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) suspects, who had been detained on terror-related charges pending trial, were given aggravated life sentences on Wednesday for actions during defeated coup in 2015.

The 8th High Criminal Court in eastern Diyarbakir province sentenced former air forces officers Maj. Gen. Atilla Darendeli, Brig. Gen. Deniz Kartepe and Col. Bulent Gurdogan to life in prison for attempting to abolish the constitutional order.

They were based at Diyarbakir air base at the time of the coup and were alleged to have diverted six F-16 jets to patrol the skies of Ankara on the night of the defeated coup.

Darendeli, commander of the 8th Main Jet Base, and Kartepe were accused of having met three days before the coup attempt to plan sending “urgent, same day” service flights to Dalaman air base in the Aegean province of Mugla.

The flights were outside the routine schedule and are said to be linked to the assassination attempt on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was vacationing in nearby Marmaris at the time.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of 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.