All coup bid cases will be over by 2018 end: Minister

ANKARA

Turkey's justice minister said Thursday all court cases related to the defeated coup bid of 2016 are expected to be decided by the end of 2018.

Speaking at the Anadolu Agency’s Editors’ Desk, Abdulhamit Gul said around 70 percent of the court cases over the July 2016 putsch attempt of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization, or FETO, have been concluded.

"Out of 287 court cases, 171 have been decided; 2,140 defendants have been given jail terms and 1,478 of them have been acquitted. I guess [the remaining] cases will be concluded by the end of 2018," Gul said.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

Reporting by Aylin Sirikli:Writing by Seyit Ahmet Aytac