A Turkish court on Wednesday handed life sentences to 34 people convicted of plotting to assassinate President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a luxury Aegean hotel during last year's failed coup. The defendants, who include senior military officers, were each given four life sentences at the trial in the southwestern city of Mugla, state-run media said.
They include former brigadier general Gokhan Sahin Sonmezates who was accused of directing the plot. Former elite commando Zekeriya Kuzu, who was famously found hiding in a cave four days after the failed coup, also received a life term. Another key figure in the trial, Erdogan's former military aide-de-camp Ali Yazici, was sentenced to 18 years in jail. Just one suspect, former lieutenant colonel Huseyin Yilmaz, was acquitted. The number of sentences for a total of 47 suspects may yet go up as the verdict is read out.