Twenty-two former Turkish military officers were given heavy jail terms on Thursday over their links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the July 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, according to a judicial source.
While Istanbul’s 23rd Heavy Penal Court gave aggravated life sentences to 22 former officers, 14 of them were reduced to life sentences in light of good behavior, said the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
They were all accused of attempting to overthrow the constitutional order.
The court also handed 10 year-plus sentences to four other defendants on charges of being members of a terrorist organization.
Eleven people were injured during the night of July 15, 2016, when pro-coup soldiers tried to take control of Istanbul's Kartal Bridge and Samandira tollbooth, the indictment against the former officers says.
The Fetullah Terrorist Organization and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 250 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.
