US condemns Turkey's indictment of 16 civil society figures

The United States on Saturday condemned Turkey for indicting 16 civil society, media and business leaders involved in anti-government protests in 2013, saying the US was "gravely concerned."

"Exercising the right to freedom of expression should not result in an aggravated life sentence," said a State Department statement.

It urged Turkey to respect its citizens' freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly "and to release all those held arbitrarily."

The indictments stem from massive public protests in 2013. The 16 people are alleged to have used the protests as part of a plot to overthrow the government.

Rights group Amnesty International dismissed the allegations against the 16 as an "outlandish" attempt to "silence some of Turkey's most prominent civil society figures." 

More than two million people took part in protests that year in and around Istanbul's Gezi Park - where the government infuriated many Turks with its plan to build a replica of an Ottoman barracks there.

Riot police ultimately stormed the park to oust demonstrators and bulldozed a tent camp that had sprung up. Scores of people were injured.