Turkey convicts 330 military officers accused of coup The army, which sees itself as the guarantor of Turkey's secular constitution, mounted three coups between 1960 and 1980. Prosecutors said the plot to overthrow Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the AK prime minister, was drawn up during a seminar of military officers. But three judges in Istanbul convicted all but 34 of the 365 accused officers, with one verdict being postponed for health reasons. Among those found guilty are three of Turkey's most prominent military figures - General Cetin Dogan, who commanded the 1st Field Army, Ibrahim Firtina, who led the air force, and Ozden Ornek, their counterpart from the navy. Before his conviction, Gen Dogan told the court that trial would make the "soldiers of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk [the founder of modern Turkey] - who give their lives for their country - to pay the price of their commitment to the republic and its principles." Together with the other senior figures, he was given a life sentence, reduced to 20 years because the plot failed.