A Turkish court has found 43 former soldiers guilty of attempting to kill President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during last year’s failed coup, and handed most of them life sentences, in the highest-profile case related to the attempted putsch so far.

Judge Emirsah Bastog read out guilty verdicts for 43 of the 47 defendants, at the court in Muğla, south-western Turkey. Muğla is near the luxury resort where Erdoğan and his family narrowly escaped a team of rogue soldiers who stormed his hotel during the night of the coup. The trial, which started in February, is part of a sweeping crackdown that followed the July 2016 failed putsch and is the biggest such case to reach a verdict. “I hope the verdict today is beneficial to everyone,” Bastog said, as he sentenced 34 of the accused to aggravated life sentences, the harshest punishment possible under Turkish law because it lengthens the minimum sentence required for parole.Another seven defendants were given life sentences; two others were given lesser sentences.

“Several defendants have been found guilty on the charge of attempting to assassinate the president,” Bastog told the packed courtroom. One was acquitted. No verdict was given for the three who were tried in absentia, including US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, whom Ankara blames for orchestrating the coup.(theguardian)…[+]