US 'Should Have Been Aware' of the Plotted Military Coup in Turkey
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - It is probable that the United States knew that a military coup was being planned in Turkey, Hakki Pekin, former head of the intelligence department of the Turkish General Staff, said.
On Friday, an attempted military coup took place in Turkey with tanks seen on the streets of the capital of Ankara and the largest city of Istanbul, as the military tried to take control of the country. By early Saturday the coup had been suppressed.
"If it is true that the coup was organized by the organization that is allegedly responsible for it [Gulen movement] then the US should have been aware of the situation. This organization couldn’t stage a coup without notifying Washington. I think that US special services are behind the putsch," Pekin told Sputnik.
Washington’s statement on the attempted coup came late.
Moreover, US author Ralph Peters wrote: the "failed coup was Turkey’s last hope to stop the Islamization of its government and the degradation of its society."
However, after the coup was thwarted the US stated that it supports the legitimate Turkish government, Pekin noted.
He added that there were signals coming from international organizations, think-tanks and media that there was the risk of a coup in Turkey but the armed forces did not take measures to prevent it.
"It was obvious that a coup attempt would be made. But the military command waited and failed to prevent the putsch," Pekin said.
However, according to him, a new coup attempt can be ruled out.
As many as 208 people died in an attempted coup in Turkey last week, while more than 300 of those involved were arrested, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Monday.
Russian political analyst Sergei Markov also assumed that the US may be involved in the organization of the coup in Turkey. According to him, there are two possible reasons behind the assumption.
First, two weeks passed after Ankara turned to normalization ties with Moscow. Washington may have been concerned over such a dramatic change of heart.
"Moreover, as a Turkish ally in NATO, the US should have condemned the coup from the very beginning. However, Washington took its time. It made an official statement only after the coup failed. In fact, the US waited for the coup to win," Markov told the Russian online newspaper Vzglyad.
