Author: Hovhannisian John

Six years after the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) tried to seize power with a coup, the Turkish judiciary has managed to wrap up 289 trials against the putschists, sentencing 4,891 defendants. The lengthy appeals process has also concluded, with most trials seeking to overturn verdicts still playing out before higher courts.

On July 15, Turkey will mark the sixth anniversary of the coup attempt that killed 251 people and injured hundreds of others. The attempt was quashed thanks to strong public resistance, coupled with the actions of anti-putschist soldiers and law enforcement.

Determined to deliver swift justice, Turkey has set up new courts and massive prison complexes that also include spacious courtrooms. In the aftermath of the putsch bid, prosecutors’ offices across the country launched more than 100,000 investigations into coup-related crimes. They culminated in 289 trials, with the first verdicts handed out in the eastern province of Erzurum, hometown of FETÖ leader Fetullah Gülen.

A colonel and a major in the province were sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment on Jan. 5, 2017 on charges of violating the Constitution. Most recently, the final coup trial in the western province of Çanakkale concluded with prison sentences for several military officers.

Overall, 3,000 defendants were convicted of charges carrying life sentences. A total of 1,634 defendants, including 85 generals, were given aggravated life imprisonment, a sentence that rules out early release or parole. Another 1,366 defendants were sentenced to life, including 24 former generals and 536 high-ranking military officers. A total of 1,891 defendants were sentenced to lesser prison terms while 2,870 people were freed after they were not found guilty.

One of the most significant trials, which ended with hefty sentences, had to do with an assassination attempt targeting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the time of the coup bid. Thirty-one defendants, including a general accused of coordinating the assassination plot, were given multiple aggravated life imprisonment sentences in the trial that concluded in 2017.

Aggravated life sentences were also handed out in major trials dealing with a large number of defendants in the capital Ankara. Among them was the Akıncı base trial, named after the military base where the coup ringleaders planned and coordinated the attempt. It had the highest number of defendants in coup-related trials with 475 people facing charges. Fifteen military officers and four civilians were given aggravated life sentences in the trial that ended in 2020. In another big trial in the capital, in which 224 people were tried for planning and executing the plot to take over the army, 127 defendants were sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment and another 23 were given life sentences in 2019.

Although most military officers who took part in the coup bid were sentenced, the “civilian” members of FETÖ remain more elusive. Only a few were caught red-handed during the attempt, including executives and staff of a FETÖ-linked company who were apparently helping the putschists since they were caught at the Akıncı base when the attempt was quelled. They were sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment but Adil Öksüz, the alleged mastermind of the coup bid on behalf of ringleader Gülen remains at large. Öksüz, originally a theology lecturer, was also captured at the same base but a court released him shortly after in a controversial decision. Since then, he has disappeared and is believed to be abroad.

As for Gülen, the terrorist group’s leader continues his life uninterrupted in a posh residence in Pennsylvania in the United States. One of most wanted men in Turkey, he is the main defendant in a myriad of trials on FETÖ’s wrongdoings including the 2016 coup bid. Yet, the United States has so far dragged its feet extraditing him, despite multiple requests by Ankara.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis (center) met with local Armenian American community leaders and a visiting craftsman, who restored the Colorado State Capitol khachkar in early April 2022. © 2022 Governor Polis’s Office

DENVER—The Colorado chapter of the Armenian National Committee of America endorsed Colorado Governor Jared Polis’ reelection bid in the upcoming June 28 Colorado Primary. 

“Gov. Polis has stood with the Armenian community locally and globally in recognizing the Armenian Genocide and has spoken out against Armenophobia and the genocidal onslaught against Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh),” said ANCA Colorado board member Kim Christianian. “We are thrilled and honored to endorse Gov. Polis’ reelection bid.” 

On April 24, Governor Polis commemorated the Armenian Genocide in a video address, highlighting the ongoing threats to Armenian existence. “I stand today with the Armenian community in Colorado and across the world as they commemorate the 107th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide,” said the Governor.

“Colorado has always stood with the Armenian people — whether through humanitarian fundraising during and after WWI, the permanent installation of the State Capitol Khachkar in memory of the victims of all crimes against humanity, and raising our voice against Armenophobic hate crimes globally,” added Gov. Polis. “I know that as Armenians remember the Genocide this week, they are concerned about attempts at repeating the Armenian Genocide in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Never again should mean never again — anywhere and everywhere in the world.” 

As part of the governor’s ongoing engagement with the Armenian community in Colorado, on April 7, during the restoration of the Colorado State Capitol Armenian Memorial Khachkar, Gov. Polis met with restoration craftsman Gaspar Gharibyan, accompanied by ANCA Colorado board member Simon Maghakyan, Armenians of Colorado (AOC) Board President Byuzand Yeremyan, and AOC Board member Narek Sargsyan. 

On April 1, Gov. Polis proclaimed the month of April as Genocide Awareness Month, noting that “the State of Colorado has commemorated all genocides and crimes against humanity with a permanent Khachkar memorial on the Colorado State Capitol grounds,” and how “it is important to remember and commemorate the 20^th-century genocides perpetrated against Armenians, Jews, Cambodians, Bosnians, and Rwandans, among others.” 

In previous years, Gov. Polis similarly issued statements in commemoration of the Armenian Genocide and in solidarity of the Armenian community. ANCA Colorado is a chapter of the Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region, which is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots organization in the Western United States. Working with its network of local offices and chapters throughout the region, the ANCA-WR ensures that the concerns of the Armenian American community are heard in the halls of government. All members of the community who are U.S. citizens are encouraged to support the Armenian Cause by voting in each election.