Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said during a television interview that the Gülen movement did not carry out Turkey’s July 15, 2016 coup attempt, before clarifying under questioning that he meant the movement had not acted alone and alleging US involvement.
Soylu made the remarks on Haber Global’s Az Önce Konuştum program, hosted by journalist Candaş Tolga Işık, on February 2, 2021. The program was announced by Haber Global as a live interview in which Soylu would answer questions on current affairs.
Discussing the coup attempt, Soylu said: “Did FETÖ carry out July 15? July 15 was not carried out by FETÖ.” He added that those behind July 15 would not leave Turkey alone unless the country stood firm, according to multiple reports quoting the exchange.
The term FETÖ is the Turkish government’s pejorative acronym for the Gülen movement, a transnational civic initiative inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.
When Işık asked, “What do you mean, FETÖ did not carry it out?” Soylu shifted the formulation, saying he meant it was not carried out by FETÖ “alone” and that he was referring to “external support.” He then pointed to Gülen’s residence in the United States and suggested the answer was obvious.
The remark drew attention because Soylu did not initially use the standard government formulation that the coup attempt was carried out by alleged Gülen movement-linked officers with outside support. He first said directly that the movement “did not carry out” the coup attempt, then reframed the statement after the host challenged him.
Soylu later told journalist Nedim Şener that he meant the United States was behind the coup attempt and that the Gülen movement carried it out on US instructions, Haber3 reported.
Haber Global later reported that the US State Department rejected Soylu’s allegation. Spokesman Ned Price said the United States had no involvement in the 2016 coup attempt, condemned it immediately and considered claims to the contrary “wholly false.”
The exchange prompted criticism from opposition figures. İYİ Party lawmaker Lütfü Türkkan asked why Soylu had not said who carried out the coup attempt if, in his words, it was not carried out by the Gülen movement.
The statement also became part of a wider debate over contradictions in Ankara’s official account of the coup attempt.
Ankara blames the coup attempt on the Gülen movement and designates the movement as a terrorist organization. The movement denies involvement in the coup or any terrorist activity.
Soylu’s remarks were politically sensitive because they appeared to acknowledge, at least in wording, that the official account did not fully explain who was behind the coup attempt.
