Men behind first DAESH attack in Turkey get multiple life sentences

Turkey has seen firsthand how brutal the DAESH terrorist organization is when the group, which quickly emerged as a major threat around the world in only a few years, carried out its first attack in the country in 2014. It was not a planned attack, but cost the life of a military officer, a police officer and a truck driver. Two years later, a court sentenced the trio that carried out the attack to 10 life sentences. German national Benjamin Xu, Swiss citizen Çendrim Ramadani and Macedonian national Muhammed Zakiri received four, five and one aggravated life sentence, respectively, along with additional prison terms amounting to hundreds of years, while Fuad Movsumov, a suspect charged with aiding and abetting, was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Zakiri, Ramadani and Xu were captured after they opened fire on security personnel manning a checkpoint in the central city of Niğde on March 20, 2014. A police officer and a military officer were killed in the attack, before the suspects fled the scene by hijacking a truck after killing its driver. The suspects, who arrived from Syria, were reportedly traveling to the capital, Ankara, via taxi when they were stopped at a checkpoint. Eight others were injured in the attack.

The defendants, imprisoned in a maximum-security prison in Ankara, appeared before judges via video-link from the prison, while the family of Adil Kozanoğlu, the non-commissioned officer gunned down by the suspects, attended the final hearing in the trial that was mired by allegations that the militants were traded with the Turkey's Mosul consulate staff held hostage in 2014. The trio, which had repeatedly refused "to recognize the legitimacy" of the court, was silent in the last hearing.

Judges ruled out punishment for three Turkish taxi drivers the defendants traveled with to reach to Ankara from a Turkish city on the Syrian border.

Ramadani, Zakiri and Xu were charged with terrorism, manslaughter, murder of a public official, possession of explosive material, car theft and injury, while Movsumov was charged with membership in a terrorist organization and forgery.

Ali Çil, a lawyer appearing on behalf of the families of the victims, has said the prosecution sought the harshest sentences possible against the defendants. "You have to use a calculator to calculate the total prison terms that the prosecution asked for," he said, noting that terms might be the heaviest yet asked for DAESH members.