Mass Trial Over Turkey’s Coup Plot Becomes an Arena of Emotion<br />Mr. Erdogan, who evaded capture by the coup plotters on the night of July 15, 2016, has accused a former<br />ally, the Islamist cleric Fethullah Gulen, of masterminding the coup from his refuge in Pennsylvania.<br />Mr. Gulen is among those indicted in what has become known as the Akinci air base case, named for the base<br />that was considered the coup plotters’ headquarters and from where jets were deployed to bomb targets.<br />When asked to explain how a group of officers who had gained promotion together were all at Akinci base on the night of the coup, he turned to sarcasm: "It was us<br />who burned down Rome also." Another defendant, Col. Muzaffer Duzenli, the head of an army department, is also named as one of the main organizers of the plot.<br />Colonel Duzenli is accused in the indictment of organizing meetings to plan the coup<br />and setting up a contact group of plotters on the encrypted telephone messaging service WhatsApp.<br />Mr. Gulen denies the charge and has suggested that Mr. Erdogan orchestrated the coup himself in order to purge his opponents and amass more power.<br />Most of those who have testified so far — more than 20 senior officers<br />and civilians in the course of first three weeks — denied any responsibility for the coup, much to the anger of victims’ relatives and supporters in the public gallery.<br />On a recent day, the courtroom was packed to hear Col. Ahmet Ozcetin, the operations commander<br />of Akinci air base, who is charged with being one of the main instigators of the coup.
