Kerry says no one saw Turkey coup bid coming
Secretary of state says Washington unaware putsch was brewing in NATO ally, restates support for Erdogan government
LUXEMBOURG — US Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday that Washington had had no idea that a coup attempt was brewing in NATO ally Turkey before Friday’s bloody events.
But he added that the failed putsch had apparently been incompetently executed, and restated Washington’s support for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s elected government.
“If you’re planning a coup you don’t exactly advertise it to your partners in NATO,” Kerry told reporters who asked how US intelligence could have been surprised by events.
“It surprised everybody, including the people in Turkey,” the top US diplomat added, speaking in Luxembourg during a diplomatic tour of European capitals.
“I must say, it does not appear to have been a very brilliantly planned or executed event, but let’s reserve all judgment until the facts are in.”
The United States and Turkey are close military allies within NATO and US war planes targeting the Islamic State group fly out of the major Incirlik air base.