First coup case hearing opens in Istanbul

A total of 137 suspects attended the first hearing in a major case into last year’s failed coup attempt in Turkey,

The case centres around the deadly confrontations on the bridge across the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul on the night of July 15th last year when 34 people were killed by snipers, gunshots and tanks.

All but two of those killed were civilians, while the remaining two were police officers.

Prosecutors are seeking 37 aggravated life sentences for each of the suspects.

The former Bosphorus Bridge has since been renamed the July 15 Martyrs’ Bridge.