Life sentence for three in 2016 Turkey terror attack

ANKARA — A Turkish court on Monday handed down life sentences to three suspects over a 2016 terror attack claimed by Kurdish rebels that left 12 people dead, the official Anadolu news agency reported.

Six of the victims in the bombing of a police bus in the heart of Istanbul were police officers and the other six were civilians.

The court in Istanbul found defendants Eyup Sever and Murat Bal guilty of “violating the constitution” and “premeditated murder,” handing both aggravated life terms, Anadolu reported. It also sentenced them each to 893 years in prison.

The court sentenced a third defendant, Gulsah Bahadir, to life for “premeditated murder” and separately sentenced her to 893 years in prison, according to the news agency.

Militant Kurdish group the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) — seen as a splinter group of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) — claimed responsibility for the Istanbul attack.

The PKK, which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, is blacklisted as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies.

The Istanbul court ordered the release of four other suspects under judicial control. — Agencies