150 go on trial over Istanbul bridge massacre

SILIVRI, Turkey: Almost 150 former Turkish military personnel went on trial on Monday over clashes on an Istanbul bridge during last year’s failed coup that claimed dozens of lives, including a key aide of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The bridge across the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul was the scene of bloody fighting between Erdogan’s supporters and renegade soldiers seeking to oust the elected government on the night of July 15, 2016.

It was later renamed by the government as July 15 Martyrs’ Bridge. The dead included Erdogan’s campaign manager Erol Olcok and his 16-year-old son Abdullah Tayyip, who were killed when soldiers opened fire on protesters on the bridge which connects Asia and Europe.

Erol Olcok had named his son after Erdogan and his predecessor as president, Abdullah Gul. A total of 143 suspects, including 30 officers, appeared in court. All the suspects barring eight are being held under arrest.

They are accused of crimes ranging from murder to attempting to overthrow the parliament and the government, according to the 1,052-page indictment.

If convicted, the suspects each face 37 life sentences, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency. Outside the court, souvenir sellers tried to catch on the mood of national solidarity by selling scarves, banners and other memorabilia with Erdogan’s face on.

"Your path is our path," read one slogan on an Erdogan scarf. Many civilians rushed to the bridge on the night of the coup, heeding Erdogan’s call to quash the putsch bid, but the renegade soldiers then shot at them.