ISTANBUL, June 18 (Reuters) - Former Turkish president Kenan Evren and ex-Air Force commander Tahsin Sahinkaya were sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday for their roles in a military coup in 1980, state broadcaster TRT said.
Evren, 96, and Sahinkaya, 89, were accused of setting the stage for a military intervention, the third in 20 years, and then conducting the coup.
The coup set the stage for a military regime under which thousands were tortured, hundreds sentenced to death and many more vanished and ushered in an era of military dominance in Turkish politics. (Reporting by Mert Ozkan and Ayla Jean Yackley; editing by Ralph Boulton)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
