President Obama said Friday the U.S. had no role in last week’s failed coup attempt in Turkey.
“Any reports that we had any previous knowledge of the coup attempt are completely false,” Mr. Obama said at a press conference at the White House. “We deplore the attempted coup.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused followers of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen of mocking the Turkish people. Turkey blames Mr. Gulen for fomenting the uprising and has requested the U.S. to extradite him.
Mr. Obama said he told Mr. Erdogan in a phone call this week that the U.S. had no involvement in the attempted overthrow of his government.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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