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Fethullah Gülen role in Turkey coup unverified: Commentator

Saturday, 23 July 2016 8:31 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 23 July 2016 8:32 AM ]

Turkish opposition leader Fethullah Gülen addresses at his residence in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania on July 18, 2016 allegations by the Turkish government about his involvement in the attempted July 15 coup. (Photo by AFP)

A political expert says Turkish opposition leader Fethullah Gülen has some people in the Turkish military, but there is no evidence to say that he organized the recent failed coup in Turkey.

Jim W. Dean, managing editor of the Veterans Today told Press TV that Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cannot urge the United States to have the opposition leader extradited because Ankara has no appropriate document to prove Gülen’s hand behind the attempted coup.

After the military coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, Erdogan called on US President Barack Obama to hand over Gülen, but Obama said his country will extradite the Turkish opposition leader if Ankara presents documents of his involvement in the coup attempt.

Dean also maintained what is shown between the US and Turkey is “some little post coup theater” from both sides, because Ankara tries to find scapegoat for the coup and the Americans want to say they were unaware that the incident would happen.

Obama has rejected claims that the US had prior knowledge of last week’s attempted coup in Turkey and urged his Turkish counterpart to tamp down any rumors of American involvement.

Also pointing to the fact that the US has sophisticated surveillance facilities at the Incirlik Air Base in southeastern Turkey, he noted the American authorities could not say that they “did not know anything about the coup plot; so, both sides are kind of playing a little here.”

According to the analyst, the Turkish president is putting pressure on the US in a bid to strengthen his position among the public and garner domestic support. The trend is going to affect Turkey’s relations with the US and the NATO, but their strategic ties would help the parties stop a major blow to their relations, he concluded.

Turkey has sacked thousands of military and government personnel in an attempt to cleanse the country from what they call plotters.

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