Lawyers for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have applied to the country’s Supreme Court of Appeals seeking the confiscation of all assets of the late generals Kenan Evren and Tahsin Şahinkaya, who were among the masterminds of a bloody coup in 1980.
Sept. 12 marked the 39th anniversary of the 1980 military intervention led by Evren and his colleagues. The intervention heralded the darkest chapter in Turkey’s human rights and democracy and opened a bloody episode in the Kurdish conflict.
As the last two survivors of the coup leadership, Evren and Şahinkaya went on trial in 2012 and were handed down life sentences at the end of the proceedings in 2014.
The generals’ trial started only after the Turkish government revoked their immunity by pushing through a constitutional amendment in a 2010 referendum.
The two generals were never jailed due to their age and failing health, and both died in 2015.
Erdoğan’s lawyers petitioned the top court for the confiscation of their assets.