Turkish court jails 27 for life over 2016 ‘coup attempt’

A Turkish court on Thursday jailed 27 former pilots and other suspects for life in one of the largest trials stemming from the bloody 2016 coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

They were convicted of crimes including murder, trying to overthrow the constitutional order and attempting to assassinate the president, an AFP reporter in the courtroom said.

As many as 251 people died and over 2,000 sustained injuries in what has turned into the the defining moment of Erdogan's rule.

Today’s trial revolves around events at the Akinci air force base near Ankara.

Then Chief of Staff General Hulusi Akar – now the defence minister – along with other top commanders were held hostage at the base for one night during the coup, before being rescued on the morning of July 16.

Erdogan was on vacation in southern Turkey at the time.

There have been 289 trials into the failed overthrow of Erdogan and 10 continue, Anadolu reported.

More than 2,500 aggravated and standard life sentences have been issued by Turkish courts, with judges convicting 4,154 coup suspects since July 2016.