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Turkey trial seeks to account for six critical hours during coup

As the trial of key Turkish military officers allegedly involved in the failed coup enters its second week, the public awaits answers to questions that have lingered since the July 15 event.
Turkish soldiers accused of attempting to assassinate President Tayyip Erdogan on the night of the failed July 15 coup, are escorted by gendarmes as they arrive at the court in Mugla, Turkey, March 8, 2017. REUTERS/Kenan Gurbuz - RTS11XPE

We're still waiting for answers. It's been 10 months, but questions persist about the July 15, 2016, abortive coup in Turkey. Unlike others who saw it as a coup attempt, I classified it as a kamikaze-like military uprising, because the putschists who tried to hijack the state authority that night didn't have a profound ideology binding them together, a strong motivation or clear political goals.

I had previously said that participants in the military uprising, whose driving engine was the Gulen movement, were officers with anti-government sentiments, those with pragmatic goals and career-advancement goals, those who were blackmailed into joining and some who unquestioningly obeyed commands.

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