American Incirlik air force base in Turkey
While some insist that the attempt to topple Recep Tayyip Erdogan's - ambitious and bloody, was staged, others (primarily in Turkey) believe that the leader of their state almost lost his life due to rapprochement with Russia. An expert on the Middle East, head of Lev Gumilev Center, Pavel Zarifullin told "
Komsomolskaya Pravda " what secret intel he received from Turkey from a local high-ranking and well-informed friends. Their information says one thing - the coup was prepared with the help of our overseas "partners".
The Goal Is To Control
- Pavel, who are these people - who gave you information from inside Turkey? In light of recent crackdown how do you keep in touch with them?
- It is the elite of Turkish society, with whom I have been associated due to work for many years. Some of my colleagues were jailed by Erdogan back in 2007, but that's another story. Now I communicate with one of the famous Turkish professors, a consultant to local intelligence services. His name, of course, I will not disclose. He, like thousands of others, is walking on the edge - there is the same crackdown as in 1937 under Stalin. We correspond in a private chat room with coded messages. He is a supporter of Turkey's accession to the Eurasian Union, not the EU. And there are many influential people with similar views.
Government, academia and those in security services have no doubt that the coup was prepared by Americans. Like all the previous ones in this country, since 1960. The military has always interfered in political process and acted in coordination with Americans.
- What did he tell you?
Comment: Of course this accusation of Erdogan being too soft on the Kurds is just so much bull; a manufactured and "plausible" sounding "reason" that would serve to help justify - in the minds of outsiders anyway - the coup.