ANKARA, Turkey – Officials say Kenan Evren, the leader of Turkey's 1980 military coup and former president who died aged 97, will be given a state funeral but no government official will attend.
The coup was initially welcomed for ending years of street fighting by rival militias but the former general — who died Saturday — is now mostly despised for the arrests, torture and extrajudicial killings that took place during his rule. Last year, he was sentenced to life in prison for carrying out the coup.
Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told private NTV television no one from Turkey's governing party would attend Tuesday's funeral. Some opposition parties have also said they would not participate.
Kurtulmus said: "The coup came at a great cost to Turkey. May God forgive his sins."
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