When I first heard that a coup was in progress in Turkey my first thought was that it was the USA\u2019s way to punish Erdogan for his sudden apology to Russia.\u00a0 Yes, sure, I realized that there were many other possible explanations, but that was the one I was hoping for.\u00a0 I even\u00a0 told my family that if this was a US-backed coup and if Erdogan or his supporters said so, there would be hell to pay for the USA.\u00a0 Less than 24 hour later my hopes were fulfilled:<\/p>\n
Turkish Minister Blames US Authorities for Organizing Coup Attempt<\/a><\/p>\n Kerry Blasts Turkey for Insinuating that Washington Plotted Coup of Erdogan<\/a><\/p>\n Erdogan was undeterred and he went on to publicly declare<\/a> \u201c\u201cDear President Obama, I told you this before, arrest Fethullah Gulen or return him to Turkey. You didn\u2019t listen. I call you on you again, after the coup attempt \u2013 extradite this man from Pennsylvania to Turkey. If we are strategic partners, do what is necessary,\u201d<\/em> Erdogan said. He also explicitly called any nation supporting Gulen \u201can open enemy of Turkey.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Now we need to remember that Erdogan has a history of zigs followed by zags, so I would not put it past him to warmly embrace Obama in the near future, but I find that unlikely.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Simply because there is a lot of indirect evidence that the USA was, indeed, behind this coup.\u00a0 Consider this:<\/p>\n The coup involved a very large number of people.\u00a0 We can get a sense of the magnitude of this coup by looking at the huge purge now taking place in Turkey.\u00a0 According to various sources it includes no less than 6\u2019000 people<\/a>, many senior officers (including 5 generals and 29 colonels<\/a>), 2\u2019745 judges and prosecutors<\/a>.\u00a0 So the first thing we need to ask ourselves is how likely is it that the USA did not know what was being prepared by the coup plotters?\u00a0 I submit that in a country essentially at war, where US forces which are involved in combat operations in nearby Syria and Iraq are deployed and where the US reportedly keeps 50 tactical nuclear weapons<\/a>, the notion that the USA did not see this coming is far fetched.\u00a0 Turkey is a NATO member state, which in practical terms means that the US has full control over the Turkish military, and we know thanks to Sibel Edmonds that the Turkish deep state has very close ties to the US deep state \u2013 and we are to believe that nobody in the USA saw this coming?<\/p>\n