First coup trial opens in Turkey
As the first suspects go to trial in connection with the July coup attempt, a deeply wounded and divided Turkey does not appear ready for closure.
The trial of 29 police officers accused of supporting the failed coup attempt in July started in Istanbul’s Silivri courthouse and penal complex on Dec. 27. The officers are charged with not relaying orders from the General Directorate of Security (Turkey’s national police department) to their colleagues and subordinates to resist the uprising as well as ignoring direct orders from Istanbul Police Chief Mustafa Caliskan to not turn over their weapons to the soldiers. Turkish police along with military forces loyal to the government had played a critical role in thwarting the coup attempt.
Not surprisingly, the 29 officers are also accused of being part of a clandestine network allegedly run by the Pennsylvania-based Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen that the Turkish government and Turks across the political spectrum derisively refer to as the Fethullah Gulen Terror Organization or FETO. Many Turks think Gulen masterminded the coup attempt.
