Turkey sentences 6 people to life in prison for Istanbul airport attack
On June 28, 2016, three men armed with suicide bombs and automatic weapons attacked Ataturk Airport, killing 45 people and injuring 163 others.
Turkish rescue services gather outside Istanbul's Ataturk airport on June 28, 2016. Two explosions rocked Istanbul's Ataturk airport. A Turkish official said two attackers blew themselves up at the airport after taking on police fire. The official said the attackers detonated the explosives at the entrance of the international terminal before entering the x-ray security check.
An Istanbul court on Friday convicted six people and sentenced them to 46 aggravated life terms for involvement in a June 2016 attack on Istanbul's main airport that was blamed on Daesh.
The convicts — Riza Coskun, Levent Uysal, Ahmet Kaplan, Eyup Demir, Ahmet Dizlek and Djamel Slimani — were found guilty of "violating the constitution" and the premeditated homicide of 45 people in the attack that also injured 163.
The six were sentenced to a total of 2,604 years in prison.
On June 28, 2016, three suspected members of the Daesh terror group armed with automatic weapons stormed Ataturk International Airport and opened fire.
They eventually detonated suicide vests that killed them as well as more airport visitors.
The attackers were identified as Vadim Osmanav and Rakhim Bulgarov, while the third man's name remains unknown.
A total of 46 defendants were on trial for the attack, including Russian, Algerian, Tunisian, Egyptian, Syrian and Turkish citizens.
Six were sentenced to prison terms ranging from six to 12 years for membership in a terror group.
Others were convicted of aiding a terror group or fraud.
Four defendants remain at large.
Turkish security forces have been involved in a long-running campaign to clear Daesh terrorists from the country.
More than 300 people have lost their lives so far in Daesh-claimed attacks in Turkey, where the terror group has targeted civilians in suicide bombings and rocket and gun attacks.
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