Turkey has begun trials on the military and police officers involved in the bloody coup attempt on July 15 blamed on a small junta linked to Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ). The first trial was held Monday in the western city of Denizli while some 29 police officers accused of aiding and abetting pro-coup troops will stand trial Tuesday in Istanbul. Amid tight security measures, 60 defendants, including 18 that were released earlier pending trial were escorted into the EGS Culture and Congress Center, a venue that replaced the local courthouse due to the scale of the trial.Brigadier General Kamil Özhan Özbakır, the former commander of a commando brigade deployed in Denizli, is among the defendants accused of involvement in the coup attempt. His aides and deputy commander of another commando brigade also stand trial at the High Criminal Court of Denizli which handles terror cases. The defendants, all career officers, face three instances of aggravated lifetime imprisonment for "attempt to overthrow the constitutional order", the formal charge for those attempting to oust the government by force, as well as for membership of FETÖ. Prosecutors also ask for 15 years in prison for the defendants with lesser charges.The trial might take months due to the sheer number of defendants although a verdict might be expected sooner than thought as legal experts point to clear evidence implicating the coup plotters such as the movement of units to aid other pro-coup troops, which might be sufficient for their conviction. The first hearing began with the recitation of a thick file of indictment.Özbakır's 11th Commando Brigade Command would have flown to the capital Ankara to help other pro-coup troops from Çardak airport in Denizli. Some 550 commandos tried to take over the airport and use cargo planes to fly to the capital where the presidential palace, parliament, army headquarters, etc. were under attack on July 15. Locals, police officers and soldiers opposing the coup mobilized upon the takeover attempt and stopped it by occupying the runway, cutting off power at the airport and emptying the fuel tanks of the airplanes. A large crowd of locals formed a chain at the entrances of the airport, forcing commandos to return to their bases where they were detained by anti-coup security forces.In Istanbul, 29 police officers will be tried today for disobeying the orders of their superiors to resist the coup attempt. It will be the first coup-related trial in the city where the resistance to the coup attempt by locals inspired others across Turkey to stand against the pro-coup troops.Like the military officers in Denizli, the police officers face three instances of aggravated lifetime imprisonment. Eight defendants face lesser charges for membership of FETÖ. Prosecutors accuse the defendants of ignoring the call of duty by their superiors after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called on the public and relevant authorities to resist the coup. They are also accused of attempting to persuade their colleagues and civilians not to join the anti-coup resistance.According to the indictment, the defendants disobeyed orders to stop the coup plotters and some even cheered it, the indictment says. Mehmet Kurt, who headed an aerial division of the Istanbul police, and two other officers were tasked with transporting an elite police squad for the protection of President Erdoğan and taking them and Erdoğan to his presidential residence in Istanbul on the night of the coup attempt. The trio opposed their superiors, claiming coup plotters would "hang them" if they transported the squad. Police chief Şahin U., who commanded a police station in the Gazi district of Istanbul, ordered his subordinates to surrender to coup troops and never fire at them, according to the indictment.A search through the cellphone of Muhammet Işık, a police officer linked to FETÖ, found a message reading, "We've got news from the United States, there will be a coup against Erdoğan." United States refers to residence of Fetullah Gülen, the leader of the terror cult.İshak Erol, another police officer, wrote in a WhatsApp group of fellow FETÖ members that everyone should "prepare military fatigues." "We will be soldiers tomorrow," he wrote one day before the coup attempt.Another defendant is accused of concealing orders by a police chief to not surrender to pro-coup troops and ordering his subordinates to obey the orders of pro-coup troops.Law enforcement, civilians and the majority of the army members actively resisted the coup attempt on July 15 but FETÖ is known to have a wide clout in the National Police Department. Since the previous coup attempts in 2013, Ankara has dismissed hundreds of police officers for links to the terrorist group. The extent of the police's role in the coup attempt is not known, but Mithat Aynacı, a former police chief, made headlines after he emerged in full military fatigues from a tank stopped by the public. Aynacı, who left the force after a crackdown on Gülenist infiltrators in law enforcement, was captured by his former colleagues as he accompanied pro-coup troops to capture police headquarters on Istanbul's Vatan Avenue on July 15.Ironically, police officers implicated in the coup attempt will be tried inside a prison complex in Istanbul's Silivri district where they are held. This was the same place where the coup plotters planned to imprison hundreds of prominent figures if they succeeded in toppling the government.So far, prosecutors across Turkey have drafted 17 indictments against coup plotters and some 1,233 suspects have been charged with the coup attempt in the concluded indictments.The number of suspects and trials may increase as investigations into the putsch are still underway. All suspects face lifetime imprisonment while some defendants are also being tried for manslaughter after opening fire on civilians resisting the coup.Pro-coup officers killed 248 people and injured hundreds of others after civilians took to the streets unarmed to stand against them. Casualties also include military officers who refused to join the coup, such as Ömer Halisdemir, a noncommissioned officer who shot and killed a pro-coup general at a military base in Ankara.