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MUGLA, Turkey

A local court in southern Turkey adjourned trial of more than 40 suspects alleged to attempt to assassinate President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the defeated July 2016 coup.

Saturday's hearing was held at Chamber of Commerce and Industry's conference in Mugla province, southwestern Turkey.

The "assassination team" accused of targeting Erdogan was among 44 suspects appearing. They had all been jailed pending trial.

Judge Emirsah Bastog ruled that concrete evidence were available with criminal reports, autopsy papers and footages.

The court rejected the demand for the release of all suspects and adjourned the trial to April 24.

The first hearing was on Feb 20. The suspects have been accused of being part of the "assassination team" targeting Erdogan.

During the night of the coup attempt, two police officers were martyred at the scene of Erdogan's hotel in the port town of Marmaris.

Later that night Erdogan told the nation on live television he had narrowly escaped with his life when the hotel was bombed 15 minutes after he left the premises.

The Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen, has been accused of orchestrating the foiled coup attempt. The violence left at least 248 people martyred and around 2,200 others wounded.

The government also accuses the FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.

Since the coup, operations have been ongoing in the military, police and judiciary, as well as in state institutions across the country, to arrest suspects with alleged links to FETO.

*Reporting by Levent Kisi, Durmu Genc; Writing by Ilker Girit

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Court adjourns trial of Erdogan 'assassins' to April 24 - Anadolu Agency

Erdogan Withdraws From the West Wall Street Journal (subscription) Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants Turkey out of the West. The Islamist strongman has been telegraphing this since at least 2008. That was when he launched the great purge of the country's secular establishment, and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) ...

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Erdogan Withdraws From the West - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

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The gathering was due to take place in the western Austrian town of Hoerbranz but police said it was called off over risks of public disorder ahead of Turkeys controversial April 16 referendum on expanding President Recep Tayyip Erdogans powers.

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Turkish ministers have been heading to Europe to whip up support for a yes vote among millions of Turkeys voters who live abroad. Some 360,000 people of Turkish origin call Austria home, including 117,000 Turkish citizens.

But the ministers have been sparring with governments especially Germanys after a string of their events were cancelled by local authorities, ostensibly for logistical reasons.

Experts from rights watchdog Council of Europes independent Venice Commission said on Friday the proposed changes to the Turkish constitution were a dangerous step backwards for democracy.

Erdogan has angrily compared the cancellations of events in Germany linked to the referendum campaign to Nazi practices, drawing sharp criticism from Berlin.

Fridays event in Austria was billed as a book presentation attended by former Turkish energy minister Taner Yildiz, but police said organisers were in reality planning a political rally gathering some 400 people.

Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz on Friday urged Ankara not to export domestic politics to Austria.

This hinders integration in Austria, he said in a statement.

Local officials have also called for a Turkish gathering due to take place Saturday evening in the northern town of Linz, attended by AKP lawmaker Muhammet Mufit Aydin, to be banned.

Ties with Ankara have been strained over the crackdown that followed last Julys attempted coup against Erdogan.

Austrias ruling coalition has been divided for several days over a possible bill to ban all foreign politicians from campaigning on national territory.

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Austrian Town Blocks Pro-Erdogan Islamist Rally - Breitbart News

Turkey's Erdogan Meets With Russia's Putin to Build on Ties Wall Street Journal (subscription) MOSCOWTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Friday to discuss their cooperation over Syria and possible energy deals in the face of Ankara's flagging ties with the West. The talks between Messrs Putin and ...

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Turkey's Erdogan Meets With Russia's Putin to Build on Ties - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

ISTANBUL // Reis (The Chief), a heavily-hyped biopic about Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan premired with fanfare last week, but the box-office figures for the feature film proved dismal.

Only 67,000 people showed up to see the bombastic film, which shuffles between Mr Erdogans life as a child in the working-class Istanbul district of Kasimpasa and the years leading up to and following his election as the mayor of Turkeys largest city in the 1990s.

By comparison, Istanbul Kirmizisi (Istanbul Red), the latest from acclaimed Turkish director Ferhan Ozpetek, sold 160,000 tickets the same weekend, opening in 305 theatres compared to 331 for Reis.

The date of the biopics release was significant, as it came just six weeks ahead of a constitutional referendum for which president Erdogan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have been campaigning fiercely. Mr Erdogan aims to transform Turkeys parliamentary system into a presidential one, giving him more power and consolidating his already dominant role in Turkish politics.

Though a number of low-level AKP figures attended the gala premiere in Ankara, Mr Erdogan himself was notably absent, as was Hudaverdi Yavuz, the director. Yavuz has disassociated himself from the film, which was financed by a real estate investment company. He has said the shoot was beset with problems and delays and some of the crew had still not been paid. he also had to make "pointless editing changes" and is unhappy with the film.

The biopic performed even more poorly than a film released two years ago about a December 2013 corruption probe that Mr Erdogan and the AKP claim was orchestrated by followers of the cleric Fethullah Gulen to overthrow the government. Kod adi K.O.Z. was blasted by critics and holds the distinction of being the lowest-rated film on the movie site IMBD, but it still sold nearly twice as many tickets as Reis on its opening weekend.

Mustafa Akyol, senior visiting fellow at the Freedom Project at Wellesley College, said the film had flopped at least partly because people were already bombarded with so much Erdogan publicity.

"They probably know that pro-Erdogan TV [channels] would show the film in full soon. They may also be saturated by the pro-Erdogan propaganda that is in their face every day," he said. The conservative AKP base "is not typically a cinema-going crowd", he added.

Mr Erdogans rags-to-riches story, from child street vendor to the most successful and powerful politician in the history of the Turkish republic, is potentially fascinating. But critics say Reis is monotonous and overblown with heavy-handed acting, too many pointless scenes and a weak subplot. The star, Reha Beyoglu, bears a convincing resemblance to Mr Erdogan, but does not replicate the presidents distinct, resonant voice, the source of much of his charisma. All indications are that the film will have little influence on the outcome of the hotly debated referendum on April 16.

Curiously, Mr Erdogan himself has remained silent on the film in public, prompting speculation that he and his party are also displeased.

"I dont think the AKP has distanced itself, but it did not endorse it either," said Mr Akyol. "If Erdogan had seen it and liked it, he would make that clear, and it would become blessed for the AKP base."

Without that blessing, it appears The Chief is more of an embarrassment.

foreign.desk@thenational.ae

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Biopic about President Erdogan is a turkey - The National