Failed coup

Was CIA-backed Mullah Behind Turkey Coup Attempt?

Was U.S.-based and CIA-backed Mullah Fethullah Gülen (shown) behind the July coup attempt, as President Recep Erdogan, Turkey’s authoritarian strongman, claims?

Since the failed military coup on July 15, President Erdogan has been carrying out a massive purge of the military, police, and civilian government. Reportedly, he has suspended nearly 70,000 suspected opponents from their jobs and arrested 10,000 or more. Erdogan’s harsh crackdown on all opposition, including increased censorship, has resulted in severe condemnation from Western politicians and media critics. However, Russia, which has been one of Turkey’s main enemies, has played the coup attempt to its favor, helping smooth relations between Moscow and Ankara.

Russia was one among the first countries to officially condemn the coup attempt, a move the besieged Erdogan regime clearly appreciated. "We thank the Russian authorities, particularly President Putin,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Haberturk TV. “We have received unconditional support from Russia, unlike other countries," he said, taking an obvious backhanded slap at the United States and the European Union.

Erdogan and his government spokesmen and Turkish media supporters not only fault the United States and EU for criticizing his response to the coup effort, but also charge that a U.S./NATO-supported Turkish network guided by a CIA-backed radical cleric, Mullah Fethullah Gülen, was the force behind the failed coup.