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47 on trial in Turkey over attempt on president's life during coup bid

Xinhua, February 20, 2017 Adjust font size:

A total of 47 suspects went on trial on Monday in Turkey's southwestern city of Mugla over their alleged roles in plotting an assassination of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a coup attempt in July last year, local media reported.

The defendants, among them 37 soldiers who formed an alleged hit squad, are mainly accused of attempting to kill the president, remove the constitutional order and kill intentionally, according to the Hurriyet daily.

Six life sentences are demanded for each of the defendants, three of whom are still on the run, Hurriyet said.

The defendants are accused of joining efforts to raid a hotel in Turkey's Aegean resort town of Marmaris, where Erdogan and his family were on holiday, after some in the Turkish military launched a coup attempt on the night of July 15.

The overthrow bid was crushed hours later, but left nearly 250 people dead.

Erdogan said on TV that the hotel was bombed 15 minutes after he left. Two police officers in charge of the president's security were killed during the raid.

Outside of the courthouse, a group of people staged a protest demanding a reinstated death sentence for it to be applied to the coup plotters, the state-run Anadolu Agency said.

Ankara believes the coup attempt was masterminded by Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric living in the United States, and has been pushing for his extradition. Endit