EU Ministry appeals to be intervening party in Turkey’s ongoing coup case

Turkey’s EU Ministry has appealed to the Ankara 4th High Criminal Court to become an intervening party in the case on events at the Akıncı air base during last year’s coup attempt on the grounds that the coup plotters were aiming to topple the government and ruin Turkey’s ties with the EU.

According to information from the ministry, a petition requesting to be involved in the case has been submitted to the court. The court will issue its decision on the EU Ministry’s appeal on Aug. 29. 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) as well as the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) are already intervening parties to the ongoing case. 

Akıncı air base, near Ankara, is believed to have been the commanding center of the July 15, 2016 coup attempt where military and civilian leaders of the failed coup were located.   

The Ankara 4th Criminal Court on Aug. 1 began the trial on events at Akıncı, from where warplanes took off to bomb the Turkish parliament and other key state offices, killing 77 people. 

Some 486 suspects including Fethullah Gülen, the U.S.-based Islamic preacher believed to have masterminded the coup attempt, as well as Adil Öksüz, Kemal Batmaz, Harun Biniş, Nurettin Oruç and Hakan Çiçek, who are considered to be the civilian leaders of the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) and had roles in critical offices in the Air Forces and the Gendarmerie, will be on trial until Aug. 29 for the first hearing.