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Trial of Alleged Turkey Coup Plotters Opens

Trial of Alleged Turkey Coup Plotters Opens
Trial of Alleged Turkey Coup Plotters Opens

More than 220 suspects, including over two dozen former Turkish generals, went on trial on Monday accused of being among the ringleaders of the attempted coup last year aimed at ousting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Furious protesters outside the court called for the death penalty for the accused and flung rope nooses at the defendants as they were paraded into court handcuffed and held by the security forces, AFP reported.

Turkey blames the attempted July 15 putsch on the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, a claim he strongly denies, and has launched a relentless purge under a state of emergency against those deemed to have backed the plot.

The suspects were paraded into the courtroom by heavily armed security forces forming two columns in front of television cameras. Dozens of protesters holding Turkish flags booed at the suspects, with placards saying: "For the martyrs and veterans of July 15, we want the death penalty."

"We want the death penalty, we don't want them to be fed and housed here. We want these traitors to be buried without any flag," said protester Cengiz Ozturk.

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