Ankara
Turkey’s interior minister accused the United States on Thursday of being behind a 2016 failed coup. Ankara has blamed on a U.S.-based Muslim preacher, the Hurriyet daily reported, at a time when Turkey is seeking improved ties with its NATO ally. The US State Department said the accusation was “wholly false.”
More than 250 people were killed in the attempt to overthrow President Tayyip Erdogan and his government on July 15, 2016, when rogue soldiers commandeered warplanes, helicopters and tanks to seize state institutions. Ankara has long blamed preacher Fethullah Gulen, a former ally of Erdogan who lives in Pennsylvania.—Reuters
