by pna
A Turkish court on Wednesday started hearing a case in the Turkish capital of Ankara on a military takeover in Turkey in 1980, a significant trial regarding a controversial era in Turkey's political history.
Two surviving leaders of the 1980 military coup, 94-year-old former chief of general staff Kenan Evren who led the coup and then run the country as president from 1982 to 1989, and former commander of the air forces Tahsin Sahinkaya, 86, are facing charges of crimes against the state and can possibly be sentenced to lifetime imprisonment.
The pair, in poor health, have been hospitalized and did not attend the trial.
The courtroom of hearing was overcrowded with spectators and people who applied for intervention. Turkey's parliament, cabinet and the government as well as eight political parties have lodged applications to be intervening parties of the trial.
"The court had no authority to put the coup leaders on trial," the defendants' lawyer started in his defense, quoted by Turkish media on Wednesday.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the Ankara Court House, carrying banners reading "we did not forget, we do not forgive" and pictures of those killed during the coup, as police have taken extensive security measures.
Evren shut down the parliament in 1980 and suspended the constitution. He and Sahinkaya imprisoned civilian leaders and banned political parties before civilians returned to politics three years later.
Some 650,000 people were taken under custody and 230,000 of them stood trial, nearly 50 executed, during the three years of military junta, according to official figures. Some 171 people died as a result of torture.
Suleyman Demirel, the prime minister ousted by the coup, said by telephone Tuesday that he would not intervene in the trial, even though he and the nation suffered a lot.
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