EX-Turkish president go on trial for 1980 coup

General Kenan Evren, who went on to serve as Turkey’s president, is set to go on trial for his role in leading a 1980 coup that shaped the country until reforms cut back the power of the generals.An Ankara court was due to begin hearing the case on Wednesday against 94-year-old Evren as well as the other surviving architect of that military takeover, former air force commander Tahsin Sahinkaya, 87.Fifty people were executed, half a million arrested, hundreds died in jail, and many more disappeared during three years of military rule following the September 12, 1980 coup, Turkey’s third in 20 years.Evren’s trial, unimaginable only a few years ago, will be watched closely by hundreds of military, including top serving and retired commanders, as well as by civilians being tried now as members of the alleged “Ergenekon” and “Sledgehammer” coup conspiracies against the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister.It was a recent constitutional amendment that ended Evren’s immunity from prosecution over the coup.It is unlikely that Evren, now frail, will appear in court. The prosecutor’s office has said it could hear the testimonies of Evren and Sahinkaya via video link. Evren recently underwent intestinal surgery and Turkish media reported on Tuesday that he had also broken an arm.‘Coup house cleaning’On Tuesday, Erdogan’s government, the opposition and parliament joined at least 350 individuals and groups applying to be co-plaintiffs in the trial as aggrieved parties, meaning their grievances will be taken into account during the prosecution and possible sentencing phase.Erdogan said the government had decided it should join the long list of those wronged.“The first and most important injured party of the coups in Turkey have been the government legitimately representing the nation,” Erdogan said in his weekly speech to his parliamentary Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Tuesday. “We will follow the case closely.”