Former general denies July 15 coup allegations

Former four-star general Akın Öztürk denied any involvement in a failed July 15, 2016, coup when he appeared before a court on May 22 in a trial against more than 200 soldiers regarding events at the Turkey's General Staff Headquarters on the night of the putsch.

"It is the biggest punishment for me to be tried for such treason. What would be a greater punishment for a soldier who spent 46 years in such a uniform? My Dear Nation, my commanding officers that have taught me, everyone should know that I neither contributed nor knew about this treacherous coup attempt," Öztürk said in his defense.

The Ankara 17th High Criminal Court began on May 22 a high-profile case against 221 suspects, including former high-ranking generals who have been accused of perpetrating the coup attempt.

Öztürk, along with generals Mehmet Terzi and Mehmet Partigöç and 34 others, appeared in the dock for leading the "Peace in the Nation Council," the leading body of the failed coup. Fethullah Gülen, who is accused of being the head of the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), is being tried in absentia.

As the first general to read his defense, Öztürk denied taking part in the coup attempt, saying there had been a campaign of manipulation against him.

"In the press, there was news that 'Akın Öztürk confessed' before I had even given a statement. This is the beginning of a persuasion operation against me. Even if the anonymous witnesses' statements which indicate that I took part in the meetings with putschists in Çukurambar, Ankara, were lies, [the press] published them as if they were true," he said. 
 

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Öztürk also denied that he was in a group which was established to make...