By Durmus Genc and Levent Kisi

MUGLA, Turkey

A court hearing on the alleged assassination attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the defeated July 15 coup started Monday in Turkey's southwestern Mugla province.

The hearing, which was held in Mugla Chamber of Commerce and Industry's conference hall due to the large number of suspects, began amid tight security.

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

A small crowd protested against the suspects as they were being brought into the court.

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.