[DAWN] Nearly 500 people arrested in the crackdown following the failed July 15, 2016 coup in Turkey will go on trial today. They are accused of conspiring to oust the government from an air base seen as the plotters' hub.A total of 486 suspects will go on trial in a purpose-built courtroom outside Ankara, charged with crimes ranging from murder, violating the constitution and attempting to kill the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's state-run news agency Anadolu reported.
They are accused of running the coup bid from the Akinci air base northwest of the capital, which the authorities regard as the headquarters of the plotters where orders were sent out for fighter jets to bomb parliament.
Almost all the suspects — a total of 461 individuals — are held in custody while seven are still on the run and the remainder charged but not in jail.