An Istanbul court yesterday handed down life sentences to 53 putschist officers for their role in the July 15, 2016, coup attempt, which included a bid to seize A Haber, private broadcaster and a sister company of Daily Sabah. A Haber was among the targets of putschists linked to Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) during the attempt that killed 250 people. Through live coverage of the attacks across Turkey and relaying anti-coup messages from Turkish leaders, the broadcaster strove to rally the nation against the putschists.
The trial in Istanbul, where 131 defendants are charged with killing of four people, including anti-coup hero Col. Sait Ertürk, originally looked into the incidents at 66th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Command. Putschists at the military base planned to capture A Haber and other anti-coup broadcasters in Istanbul.
The court handed down aggravated life imprisonment for 18 defendants and life sentences for 35 others, while the rest were issued lesser prison terms. Sixty-nine defendants, mostly conscripts forced to join the coup by their superiors, were released.
Soldiers from the Brigade Command located in the Esenler district of Istanbul are accused of coordinating the actions on Istanbul's European side on behalf of the putschists' Peace At Home Council. Prosecutors accused some defendants of holding "coup meetings" days before the July 15 attempt and bringing large caches of munitions for tanks and rifles to the military base ahead of the attempt.
A military unit was sent from the base to the A Haber TV station, where the country's leaders phoned in to warn the public about the ongoing coup. The putschists failed to capture the TV station and headquarters of its parent company, Turkuvaz Media Group. As a convoy of armored vehicles carrying pro-coup troops approached, a brave crowd had gathered in front of Turkuvaz's headquarters after learning of the unfolding coup attempt and blocked them from entering the building. The first batch of pro-coup troops arrived just past midnight, opening fire at the building before trying to storm it. Unable to advance, the soldiers abandoned the convoy and escaped by hijacking a bus after firing into the air to disperse the angry crowd. A little while later, another group of soldiers also managed to reach the street where the Turkuvaz headquarters is located.
Nevertheless, an anti-coup group of civilians had already converged outside the building and blocked them as well. More pro-coup troops arrived later and when they failed to raid the building due to the large crowd that had convened outside, they fired into the sky and at the windows of the building in an attempt to intimidate the crowd. Fortunately, none of the night shift employees in the building at the time of the attack were injured.
The strong public resistance ultimately forced the putschists to surrender. Mobilized by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, crowds of civilians blocked the routes of the putschists and later, anti-coup police and military officers captured the pro-coup troops.
The actions of the putschist troops operating from the military base in Esenler included the dispatching of a helicopter full of soldiers to Istanbul police headquarters during the coup bid. One person was killed and three others were wounded when those aboard the helicopter fired on the crowd trying to prevent them from landing at the headquarters.
