Kerry: Turkish President’s Insinuation of US Role in Attempted Coup is ‘Harmful to Our Bilateral Relations’


Date posted: July 17, 2016

David Kaplan

Tensions between Turkey and the U.S. escalated Saturday, as Secretary of State John Kerry took issue with Turkish president Recap Tayyip Erdogan’s insinuations that the U.S. played a part in this weekend’s failed coup, that left 265 dead and 1,440 wounded.

At issue is Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who lives in Pennsylvania in self-exile, whom Erdogan is demanding be extradited to Turkey. Erdogan claims Gulen is behind the attempted coup, and the U.S., for all extensive purposes, is harboring him.

But Kerry slammed any implications that the U.S. had any involvement in the attempted coup. “He made clear that the United States would be willing to provide assistance to Turkish authorities conducting this investigation, but that public insinuations or claims about any role by the United States in the failed coup attempt are utterly false and harmful to our bilateral relations,” Kerry spokesman John Kirby said late Saturday, referring to a conversation between Kerry and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavosoglu.

Erdogan has claimed that Gulen inspired and mobilized his supporters in his native Turkey, and directed the coup. Gulen, a staunch democracy advocate, is a former Erdogan ally turned bitter foe who has been put on trial in absentia in Turkey.

And Erdogan, saying he is convinced Gulen is responsible for the attempted coup, is not mincing words over his anger with the U.S. “I say to America: Either execute or give the man who lives in a 400,000 square meter area in Pennsylvania,” Ergodan told a crowd of supporters in Turkey Saturday. “I call again after the attempted coup. Deliver him to Turkey.”

Erdogan has also questioned the countries’ relationship adding, “If we are strategic partners, then listen to your partner and do what we say. We gave you whatever terrorist you demanded. Now, give us the person that is on our terror list”

Earlier in the day, though, Kerry was less harsh, telling reporters while in Luxembourg, “We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr. Gulen. And obviously we would invite the government of Turkey, as we always do, to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny. And the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments about it appropriately.”

Source: ABC News , July 17, 2016

Tags: | | |


Related News

Guest post: Turkey and the problem of political continuity

Erdogan has not only replaced thousands of suspected Gulenists in the police force and the judiciary. He has also sought, with mixed results, to make the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors directly accountable to the government.

Pro-AKP media flop as corruption charges swell

This may be a Gulen Movement attack on the government. However, one cannot help but ask who gave the Gulen Movement so much access in the government to begin with? Also, the government has been screaming “show us evidence” to all questions of financing and allegations of corruption. Now it seems there is some sort of evidence — should not those be dealt with first? Shouldn’t the AKP come clean with the Turkish public first, and then fight its battle with the Gulen Movement or other “foreign” provocateurs?

Turkey’s president orders closure of 1,000 private schools linked to Gülen

Turkey’s president has signed a decree that allows for the extension of the pre-charge detention period and the closure of institutions linked to Fethullah Gülen, the exiled cleric blamed for masterminding last weekend’s failed military coup.

Erdoğan escalates elimination of Gülenists from state [ with no proof of accusations]

Since the Dec. 17 graft probe, hundreds of prosecutors and judges and around 2,500 police officers who the government believes to be close to Gülen have been removed from their posts, and it seems that it is not going to stop there.

How the fallout from Turkey’s coup attempt has been felt in South Africa

In the late evening of Friday, July 15, word spread across the world that a coup was under way in Turkey. The president was missing, the military announced it had taken control of the country, and a few hours later, in the early hours Saturday morning, the coup was over.

Professors in Gaziantep profiled alongside students

Those mainly profiled are reportedly followers of the Hizmet movement, a faith-based movement inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. The daily also claimed that other religious groups that voiced criticism or disapproval of the government’s activities were also profiled, mainly civil servants or those who planned or hoped to be employed in a state post.

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

Collective punishment [of Hizmet movement]

Inmates claim torture in Turkish prison

Kazakh leader heads to Turkey to explain decision over Gulen schools

After The Coup Attempt, A Crackdown In Turkey

Watkins’ Mind Body Spirit Magazine included Fethullah Gulen among its 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People

NBA player and Erdoğan-critic Enes Kanter’s father arrest in Turkey

Fethullah Gülen’s message to conference on “Mutual Understanding” in Ethiopia

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News