A Turkish court on October 4 handed down life sentences to 40 people convicted of plotting to assassinate President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during last year's failed coup attempt.

A group of special forces soldiers, operating under the command of the plotters, in July last year attacked a luxury hotel in the southeastern Turkish resort of Marmaris where Erdogan was vacationing in an attempt to kill or apprehend the president. Erdogan later said that he and his family narrowly escaped the attack by a few minutes. The president’s escape and the foiling of the wider coup set in train events that led to the establishment of a state of emergency in Turkey under which Erdogan has since been able to rule by decree.

During the attack at the resort two police officers were killed.

Outside the court in Mulga, Erdogan supporters waved banners calling for the death sentence. Capital punishment was abolished in Turkey in 2004 when the country was seeking admission to the EU. Erdogan has several times raised the prospect of its re-introduction, including before the constitutional referendum in April this year which officially narrowly voted to introduce a powerful executive presidency.

Reuters said the accused were given the chance to make a final statement before verdicts were given. "From the moment I was arrested at the air base on July 16, I was treated like a criminal," one former lieutenant reportedly said.

"Words don't mean anything here as we didn't have a chance of a fair trial," another defendant remarked. "We are just the grass that elephants trampled on during their fight."

Since the coup attempt in July last year was foiled, more than 50,000 people have been arrested in wide-ranging purges, while around 100,000, including military personnel, judges, academics, journalists, police officers, teachers and civil servants at various ministries have been dismissed from their jobs.

The government says the US-based self-exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen was responsible for the botched putsch which caused the death of around 250 civilians. He strenuously denies any involvement and Washington refuses to extradite him.

Additionally since the coup, more than 800 firms worth some $10bn have been seized on the basis of allegations that they provided financial aid to the Gulenists or had owners who were affiliated with Gulen and his network of followers.

The state of emergency, declared in Turkey after the putsch attempt, has been extended four times and Erdogan has given no real indication of when it might be dropped.