Lawyers who represented victims and monitored the landmark trials following the defeated July 15, 2016, failed coup attempt say the years-long judicial process exposed the full structure of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) while delivering justice for hundreds of victims and documenting one of Türkiye's darkest nights.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) ahead of the 10th anniversary of the failed coup, prosecutors' representatives and lawyers who took part in the proceedings recalled years of hearings involving millions of pages of evidence, thousands of defendants and victims, and what they described as persistent attempts by coup plotters to deny overwhelming proof.
Attorney Yasin Şamlı, president of the Istanbul No. 2 Bar Association, who represented the Presidency in numerous July 15-related cases, said nearly all coup trials have concluded, with only a handful of retrials and fugitive cases remaining.
He described the judiciary's response on the night of the coup attempt as a turning point, saying, "Unlike previous coups in Türkiye's history, the judiciary stood against the coup."
Şamlı said many defendants adopted a strategy of denying even the clearest evidence, recalling cases in which suspects denied recognizing their own relatives or rejected video footage showing them opening fire on civilians.
Despite this, he stressed that defendants were given broad opportunities to defend themselves. "There are very few trials where the right to defense has been exercised this broadly," he said.
Şamlı also recalled emotional testimony from victims' families and said evidence presented in court showed the extensive military force used against civilians during the coup attempt. "They turned the nation's weapons against its own people," he said.
Attorney Mehmet Alagöz, president of the July 15 Coup Trials Platform, said the legal team worked to represent the families of martyrs and veterans throughout the proceedings.
"The defendants looked us in the eye and lied," Alagöz said, noting that many denied their own statements and video evidence despite extensive digital proof.
He said the defendants' primary goal was to protect FETÖ rather than present credible defenses and recalled emotional courtroom moments as victims' relatives confronted those accused of killing their loved ones.
Attorney Nihal Yıldız, who represented veterans in several major coup trials, said senior military officers followed what she described as a "collective denial strategy," with some claiming security footage showed someone who merely resembled them or offering implausible explanations for their presence during the coup attempt.
While some military cadets cooperated with investigators and identified those who gave orders, "there was unfortunately no sign of remorse, apology or regret from the other defendants," Yıldız said.
The failed coup attempt, arranged by FETÖ, killed 252 people and wounded 2,733 before it was defeated by the resistance of the Turkish people and state institutions. Ten years later, lawyers involved in the trials say the proceedings created a comprehensive legal record of the failed coup while ensuring accountability for those responsible.
