Rumours of another possible coup attempt against Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) are aimed to creating an atmosphere of political chaos and resurrecting the military’s dominance in politics, columnist Abdülkadir Selvi wrote on Monday.
“The Rand Corporation report,” released in late January, outlining possible scenarios for the future of the country’s alliance with the West, “was perceived as an order by the United States to enact a coup in 2020, not as an analysis that there could be one,” Selvi wrote.
Selvi’s comments came after a week of speculation, kicked off by pro-government Yeni Şafak columnist Yusuf Kaplan reacting to comments by former army chief İlker Başbuğ, who accused the AKP of being the political wing of FETÖ, the Turkish government’s acronym for the followers of Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen.
The United States planned to bring together the so-called Eurasianists in the army, the retired generals who were dismissed on allegations of ties with Gülen, whom Turkey accuses of having orchestrated a coup attempt in July 2016, and “members of FETÖ who see themselves as victims of a coup,” Selvi said.
Read more: ahval
