Former Turkish President Kenan Evren died on Saturday at the age of 97, the BBC reports.

On 12 September 1980 General Evren launched a coup that overthrew the government. He went on to serve as president until 1989.

He was put on trial in his nineties and was handed a life sentence for the coup in 2014.

Some 600,000 people were detained and 50 executed by hanging in the coup. All political parties were banned, with left-wing activists heavily targeted.

The former president died at a hospital in Ankara.

He had been in ill health since 2012 and was unable to appear in court when convicted.