[AlAhram] Almost 150 former ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him...
The bridge across the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul was the scene of bloody fighting between Erdogan's supporters and renegade soldiers seeking to oust the elected government on the night of July 15, 2016.
It was later renamed by the government as July 15 Martyrs' Bridge.
The dead included Erdogan's campaign manager Erol Olcok and his 16-year-old son Abdullah Tayyip, who were killed when soldiers opened fire on protesters on the bridge which connects Asia and Europe.
Erol Olcok had named his son after Erdogan and his predecessor as president, Abdullah Gul.
A total of 143 suspects, including 30 officers, appeared in court. All the suspects barring eight are being held under arrest.
They are accused of crimes ranging from murder to attempting to overthrow the parliament and the government, according to the 1,052-page indictment.
If convicted, the suspects each face 37 life sentences, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.
Monday's trial is one of several legal processes seeking to bring to justice those believed to have played a role in the coup bid which left 249 people dead, not including the putschists.
Veysel Kilic, the father of one of the military academy students being held, said he did not have any hope in the "unsound" justice system.
Kilic took part in the main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdarogu'smonth-long foot march in July to protest against alleged injustices under Erdogan.
Like many relatives, Kilic said his air force academy student son was "deceived" and "told to join an unplanned exercise to measure their obedience to their commander".
"The students were totally unaware. They did not fire. Those children remained neutral," adding that more would have been killed if the students had taken sides.
Last week, a court in southwestern
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
handed life sentences to 40 people convicted of plotting to assassinate Erdogan at an Aegean hotel.