A disgraced colonel of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) appeared before a court in Turkey's capital Ankara on Tuesday, facing allegations that he was the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) leader in the army's Land Forces Command and of the putschists' so-called "Peace at Home Council."After being captured during the July 15 coup attempt, blamed on the FETÖ terror group, Col. Bilal Akyüz faced a judge in a hearing where it was confirmed that a "hit list" found in his possession was indeed authentic.Akyüz, one of dozens who face charges for participating in the coup attempt, pleaded not guilty to attempting to stage a military coup at Tuesday's hearing.A report by Turkey's Forensics Institute, the highest authority on forensics in the country, was presented to the court which provided forensic evidence that Akyüz had written the "hit list" which included the names of Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım.Also on the hit list was the district mayor of Kazan in the capital Ankara, where coup plotters attempted to establish a command center but failed after being thwarted by local citizens, who were later hailed as "heroes" by the president.Akyüz was named among 38 high-ranking officers who formed the Peace at Home Council, a committee of putschists who managed to broadcast their declaration of the military coup briefly via a public broadcaster before the coup was quelled.Interestingly, the hit list, which included a phrase that stated, "The prime minister probably will not make it [out] alive," was discovered among many other documents in the former colonel's car.Other documents seized by authorities included "martial law directives" and a list of assignments designating responsibilities to putschists in proposed post-coup posts across the Turkish state.The defendant told the court that he had been at the Akıncı air base, where putschists were holding the army chief and top military brass hostage, for "a secret meeting on counterterror operations" and "some people he did not known had given him radio orders to take to the Artillery Brigade Command in Polatlı." Akyüz was referring to another military base controlled by pro-coup troops on July 15.Meanwhile, Akyüz avoided answering questions about who had summoned him to the Akıncı air base.The disgraced colonel also denied charges that he has links to FETÖ and claimed he was subject to inquiry for his links to Gülenists during his military school years but had been acquitted, adding that, "At that time, Gülenists would be dismissed from the army."FETÖ, through its infiltrators in the army that range from low-ranking officers to generals, is accused of orchestrating the putsch bid that left 248 people dead and hundreds of others injured.Most of the deaths and injuries came as the people resisted the putschists in a public response that is unprecedented in Turkey's long history of coups.Adil Öksüz, a lecturer in theology who turned out to be a senior figure in the terror cult, is the accused criminal mastermind of the coup attempt.Öksüz, who remains at large after his controversial release following a brief detention in the aftermath of the coup attempt, face charges of planning the putsch with military officers. He was captured at Akıncı air base where Akyüz was during the coup attempt.Akyüz denied having any connection to Öksüz, who is believed to have been at the base around same time as the defendant.Thousands of military officers were dismissed from the army and many face criminal charges as coup trials that began late last year are still underway.Fetullah Gülen, the accused leader of FETÖ who has been living in the U.S. since 1999, is the prime suspect in a majority of the coup trials and, like other defendants, faces multiple life sentences for his role in the putsch attempt.In another trial in Ankara, 51 cadets from an Air Force military school testified regarding their role in the putsch bid.Abdülkadir Öngör, one of the cadets jailed following the coup attempt, was among the defendants who were brought from Istanbul to Ankara for paratrooper training a few days before the coup attempt.Öngör said he and other cadets were summoned at midnight by their commander, a captain, and were told to stay in their rooms at the military school.Adem Çelik, another defendant, said they heard "sonic booms" from fighter jets flying low and were "scared," referring to the low-flying aircraft piloted by pro-coup troops."Many people were crying and we hid under the tables when we heard the explosions in the distance. Two helicopters came and they ordered us to board them. We resisted [pro-coup officers] but they forced many of us to board the helicopters at gunpoint. I was among the ones left behind," he said.Both Çelik and Öngör denied having links to FETÖ.