MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd July, 2019) A Turkish court has acquitted 235 defendants suspected of being involved in the so-called Ergenekon nationalist terror group and has ruled four life sentences for violating the constitutional order, local media reported Monday.
According to the Daily Sabah news paper, Istanbul's 4th High Criminal Court's acquittal of charges became possible as the judge ruled that the Ergenekon group was no real entity. Still, four suspects � Alparslan Arslan, Erhan Timuroglu, Ismail Sagir and Osman Yıidirim � were sentenced to life terms in prison for violating the constitutional order, which is considered the gravest crime in Turkey being equated with terrorism or coups.
The probe into the alleged Ergenekon group's activity kicked off in 2007 when some weapons were found in a private house in Istanbul. Later, the prosecutors announced the weapons belonged to some secret terrorist group called Ergenekon which was allegedly seeking to overthrow Turkey's Justice and Development Party (AKP) government headed by Turkish then Prime Minister and incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The investigation led to several trials and a spate of grave verdicts against military officers, academics, journalists, writers and politicians in 2013.
However, next year, the defendants were released. As an official reason, the 2013 trials were declared faulty due to lack of evidence. In fact, this happened after the public learned about the conflict between the AKP government and its former allies, the supporters of US-based Muslim cleric Fetullah Gulen, who were the ones behind the persecution of the Ergenekon group. As a result, the 2013 verdicts were annulled and new trials were scheduled for 2016.
Since 2016, Turkish government has been accusing Gulen and all affiliated organizations of attempts to orchestrate a coup in Turkey. In particular, following the short-lived rebellion on July 15, 2016, thousands were arrested � among them state and military personnel, civil activists, journalists and teachers � tens of thousands more have been dismissed or suspended over their suspected links to the group. Gulen, who lives in exile in the United States, has denied the accusations.
