Turkish court sentences bombers to life

Nine defendants have been handed life sentences by a Turkish court for the 2015 bomb attacks in the capital, Ankara.

A Turkish court jailed nine defendants for life on Friday for twin bombings in the capital Ankara in 2015 that killed more than 100 people, Turkish broadcasters reported.

The suicide bombings, the deadliest such attacks on Turkish soil, targeted a peace rally of pro-Kurdish and labour activists outside Ankara's main train station.

A total 36 suspected Islamic State supporters were charged, some of them in absentia with murder, membership of a terrorist organisation, and seeking to change the constitutional order.

The attack took place in NATO member Turkey 20 days before a fiercely contested general election, raising tensions between the authorities and opposition supporters among the Kurdish community, Turkey's largest minority.

Testimony at the trial, which opened in 2016, highlighted flaws in border security and intelligence which lawyers say allowed parts of Turkey to become a rear base for jihadists.

At the time Islamic State was increasingly active in Turkey. A gun-and-bomb attack blamed on the group at Istanbul's main airport in June 2016 killed 47 people, while the bombing of a Kurdish wedding in the southern city of Gaziantep two months later killed 57.


Share
2 min read

Published

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world