The biggest trial of suspects accused of involvement in last year's failed military coup attempt in Turkey has opened in a prison outside the capital, Ankara.

About 330 people were put on trial in Sincan district on Tuesday, and if convicted, they could face multiple life sentences over their alleged links to the attempted overthrow of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in July.



More than 240 of those named in the indictment are in custody, according to state-run news agency Anadolu.



The suspects, many of them from the Polatli artillery and missile school command in Ankara, have been charged with murder or attempted murder.



They are also accused of attempting to remove the government and parliament of the Turkish republic or trying to prevent those institutions from conducting their work.

READ MORE: Turkey's failed coup attempt - All you need to know

The case is being heard at Sincan prison where there was heavy security in place, with a water cannon truck on site and a drone flying overhead as families arrived for the hearing.



The court, which has space for 1,558 people, including 720 defendants and 600 lawyers, was packed with security forces surrounding the suspects as they testified.

'Be prepared'

The first suspect, a military cadet called Abdulkadir Kahraman, told the court that on the night of the coup, troops had been informed by their commander that there had been a "terror" attack and were given ammunition.

Other suspects gave similar statements, including Arif Ozan Demir who told the court the commander told them there had been an attack and that they should "be prepared".

Ankara has blamed the failed coup attempt on Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen - who lives in self-imposed exile in the United States - and his movement.

Turkey has denounced the movement as a "terrorist" organisation and the suspects on trial at Sincan are also accused of belonging to an armed "terror" group.

READ MORE: Erdogan 'assassination plot' trial begins in Mugla

The hearing is one of several cases that opened across the country this month, with 47 people going on trial in the western city of Mugla on charges of attempting to assassinate Erdogan.

A state of emergency was declared following the July 15 failed coup attempt, while more than 43,000 people have since been placed in pre-trial detention.

The state of emergency remains in place as the trials get under way in the biggest legal process in the country's history.</s>The biggest trial of suspects accused of involvement in last year's failed July coup opened in Turkey on Tuesday in a courtroom specially built to hold more than 1,500 people.

Some 330 suspects are being put on trial in Sincan outside the capital Ankara, and if convicted, they face multiple life sentences over their alleged links to the attempted overthrow of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Over 240 of those named in the indictment are in custody, state-run news agency Anadolu reported.

The suspects, many of them from the Polatli artillery and missile school command in Ankara, have been charged with murder or attempted murder.

They also stand accused of attempting to remove the government and parliament of the Turkish republic or trying to prevent those institutions from conducting their work.

The case is being heard at Sincan prison where there was heavy security in place, with a water cannon truck on site and a drone flying overhead as families arrived for the hearing.

The courtroom — which has space for 1,558 people — was packed with security forces surrounding the suspects as they testified.

The first suspect, a military cadet called Abdulkadir Kahraman, told the court that on the night of the coup, troops had been informed by their commander that there had been a terror attack and were given ammunition.

Other suspects gave similar statements, including Arif Ozan Demir who told the court the commander told them there had been an attack and that they should “be prepared”.

Ankara has blamed the failed putsch on Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen — who lives in self-imposed exile in the United States — and his movement.

Turkey has denounced the movement as a terrorist organisation and the suspects on trial at Sincan are also accused of belonging to an armed terror group.

The hearing is one of several cases that opened across the country this month, with 47 people going on trial in the western city of Mugla on charges of attempting to assassinate Erdogan.

Until now, the largest had been in the Aegean city of Izmir where 270 suspects went on trial late last month, among them Gulen who was being tried in absentia.

Following the failed putsch, Ankara declared a state of emergency and began a widespread crackdown, placing more than 43,000 people in pre-trial detention.

The state of emergency remains in place as the trials get under way in the biggest legal process in the country's history.</s>SINCAN: The biggest trial of suspects accused of involvement in last year's failed coup opened in Turkey on Tuesday (Feb 28) in a courtroom specially built to hold more than 1,500 people.

Some 330 suspects are being put on trial in Sincan outside the capital Ankara, and if convicted, they face multiple life sentences over their alleged links to the attempted overthrow of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last July.

Over 240 of those named in the indictment are already in custody, state-run news agency Anadolu reported.

The suspects, many of them from the Polatli artillery and missile school command in Ankara, have been charged with murder or attempted murder.

They also stand accused of attempting to remove the Turkish republic's government and parliament, or trying to prevent those institutions from conducting their work.

The case is being heard at Sincan prison where there was heavy security in place, with a water cannon truck on site and a drone flying overhead as families arrived for the hearing.

The courtroom - which has space for 1,558 people - was packed, with security forces surrounding the suspects as they testified.

On the night of Jul 15, hundreds of people stood outside the Polatli command base while thousands took to the streets in the district to stop the coup bid.

The first suspect, a military cadet called Abdulkadir Kahraman, told the court that on the night of the coup, troops were informed by their commander that there had been a terror attack and were given ammunition.

Other suspects gave similar statements, including Arif Ozan Demir who told the court the commander told them there had been an attack and that they should "be prepared".

Some of the suspects added that a senior army officer told them to be prepared to use their weapons, Anadolu reported.

"The lieutenant-colonel said, 'There is an attack outside, we will ensure the people's security. We trained you for this day. If needed, use weapons'," suspect Ahmet Tamur told the court.

The cadet added that some members of the public had attacked the soldiers while others helped protect them. The suspects' family members outside the prison told AFP they wanted justice.

Samet Oral urged the president to "watch our situation, to see how we are," adding: "We only ask for justice."

Sunduz Baykara said that some of the suspects were innocent of the charges and yet remained in custody. "Even though our children didn't shoot, even though they have been beaten up by the people, it has been now eight months they stand behind bars."

Ankara has blamed the failed putsch on Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen - who lives in self-imposed exile in the United States - and his movement.

Turkey has denounced the movement as a terrorist organisation and the suspects on trial at Sincan are also accused of belonging to an armed terror group.

Chief of General Staff General Hulusi Akar is one of the complainants in the case along with Gendarmerie Forces Commander General Yasar Guler.

The hearing is one of several cases that have opened across the country this month, with 47 people going on trial in the western city of Mugla on charges of attempting to assassinate Erdogan.

Until now, the largest had been in the Aegean city of Izmir where 270 suspects went on trial late last month, among them Gulen, being tried in absentia.

Following the failed putsch, Ankara declared a state of emergency and began a widespread crackdown, placing more than 43,000 people in pre-trial detention.

The state of emergency remains in place as the trials get underway in the biggest legal process in the country's history.

The first verdicts were handed down to a colonel and major last month when they were sentenced to life in jail in the northeastern city of Erzurum for violating the constitution.</s>* Coup generals appear via video link from hospital

ANKARA, Nov 20 A retired Turkish general who seized power in 1980, sending thousands to jail and to the gallows, faced a court on Tuesday by video link from hospital, looking ill and gaunt, in a trial marking a watershed in Turkey's emergence from army domination.

Kenan Evren, who governed as President into the late 1980s, says the coup was necessary to save a country beset by street fighting. Virtually the entire political class was rounded up and interned, thousands were tortured and many more disappeared.

The 95-year old, dressed in a black jumper, a sheet pulled up over his legs, cut a brittle figure, a shadow of the strongman who led Turkey for nine years.

His cheeks sunken, he appeared tired and expressionless, giving little indication of whether he understood what was being said in the courtroom as the indictment against him was read.

A nurse helped him lie up in bed and he leant over occasionally to consult a lawyer sat in his room at an Ankara military hospital. He spoke to confirm his father's and mother's names, date and place of birth as the court went through the formality of confirming his identity.

He gave his monthly income as 13,330 Turkish lira ($7,400).

Turkey remains haunted by the coup, its third in 20 years. Evren's appearance on television screens in court epitomised how far the country has come in taming a once all-powerful military.

Victims' lawyers have said Evren should be treated no differently to former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak and Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet. Both were forced to appear in court, one on a bed behind bars, the other in a wheelchair.

The once-dominant secularist generals have seen their power and prestige eroded sharply over the last decade in the course of a series of coup trials and political reforms under the rule of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party.

A Turkish court in September sentenced more than 300 military officers to jail for plotting to overthrow Erdogan's government almost a decade ago in a trial that underscored civilian dominance over the armed forces.

Evren has said he does not regret the coup, arguing it restored order after years of chaos in which 5,000 people were killed in street violence between leftist and right-wing groups.

He was not expected to give testimony until Wednesday at the earliest, which will be the second of three days of hearings.

Many Turkish secularists broadly supported the reining in of the army, but argue that coup conspiracy trials have been used as a pretext to round up scores of the government's political opponents and create a climate of fear.

Judges previously accepted requests by political parties, parliament and trade unions to be co-plaintiffs in the case, but there was scepticism from some about whether the Evren trial would bring justice to the victims of the coup.

Former minister Yasar Okuyan, who was among thousands jailed after the coup, was also dismissive of the trial, which attracted little public interest at the court house in Ankara.

"This is just a theatre ... This is a 30-year-old problem, a legal solution will not emerge. It's a government show," Okuyan told Reuters outside the courtroom.

In April, the court rejected an appeal by prosecutors to arrest Evren, disappointing victims who had hoped his detention would guarantee he appeared in court in person. His ill health precluded such an appearance.

Also appearing on the split screen television was the other defendant, retired air force commander Tahsin Sahinkaya, who was being treated at an Istanbul military hospital.

The generals long saw it as their right to intervene in political affairs and if necessary topple the government to safeguard the secular order set up by soldier-statesman Mustafa Kemal Ataturk after 1923.

Apart from the need to end the killings, the coup leaders were also worried by what they saw as a rising Islamist threat to the secular republic following the 1979 Islamic revolution in neighbouring Iran.
About 330 people with alleged links to last year's coup attempt stand trial at a prison outside Ankara on charges of murder and attempting to overthrow the government, the largest trial to date.