BİZE ULAŞIN
By Baris Kilic and Serdar Acil
A Turkish court on Friday sentenced 21 people, including former military chief Ismail Hakki Karadayi and his deputy Cevik Bir, over 1997 “postmodern” coup in the country.
Cetin Dogan, the then First Army’s commander, and Ilhan Kilic, the then National Security Council’s Secretary General, were also among the convicts who got life sentences.
The court also imposed an international travel ban on the convicts.
In February 1997, the military was involved in the collapse of late Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan’s administration amid concerns expressed by generals about the government’s alleged Islamist program.
Erbakan's government was forced to step down following a National Security Council meeting. His Welfare Party was later also outlawed. A new civilian government then took over from Erbakan in a move that became known as Turkey’s "postmodern" coup.
The court also acquitted 68 other suspects.
