Turkey coup defendants deny Gulen affiliation
The group trials have begun of soldiers charged in connection with the July coup, and although their defenses have varied, all have so far denied being followers of cleric Fethullah Gulen.
As the first major trials of military personnel accused of involvement in the failed July coup get underway, many people are eager to learn exactly what happened that night.
Instead of combining the cases into a single trial, the Turkish authorities have divided them according to their importance and location. The intention is to expedite the court process and make the events more understandable.
The first major case involves the Marmaris resort in southwest Turkey, where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was vacationing at the time of the coup. On trial nearby in Mugla are elite personnel from the special forces, the air force's search-and-rescue teams and the navy's underwater assault teams.
The other major case concerns events at the Special Forces Command headquarters near Ankara, where Senior Master Sgt. Omer Halisdemir was killed. Halisdemir is hailed as a hero for killing Brig. Gen. Semih Terzi, who is thought to have led some of the coup plotters. That case is being tried in Ankara.
