Turkey’s Erdogan Directly Accuses US of Involvement in Failed 2016 Coup

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Reuters)
TT
20

Turkey’s Erdogan Directly Accuses US of Involvement in Failed 2016 Coup

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Reuters)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan directly accused on Tuesday the United States of being involved in the July 2016 failed coup in his country.

Speaking before members of his ruling AK Party in parliament, he said US CIA and FBI intelligence agencies were behind the coup that took place on July 15, 2016.

Turkey also blames US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen of involvement in the coup, a charge he denies.

In addition, Erdogan condemned the US trial of Halkbank executive, Mehmet Hakan Atilla, who was convicted last week on a number of charges, including bank fraud and conspiracy to violate US sanctions law.

Erdogan said that Atilla was being persecuted by the FBI, CIA and Gulen’s group.

“The US efforts will not succeed and it will fail,” declared the Turkish leader.

The trial is another form of the coup, this time from a political context, he stressed.

“Some of our friends and strategic partners support terrorist groups with different weapons, so what else do we have to discuss with them?” asked Erdogan in reference to US arms supplies to the People’s Protection Units.

The Kurdish group operating in Syria has been labeled as terrorist by Ankara.



Israel Launches Communications Satellite from Florida

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft lifts off at Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy Space Center before the launch of Axiom Space Axiom Mission on June 25, 2025, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images/AFP
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft lifts off at Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy Space Center before the launch of Axiom Space Axiom Mission on June 25, 2025, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images/AFP
TT
20

Israel Launches Communications Satellite from Florida

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft lifts off at Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy Space Center before the launch of Axiom Space Axiom Mission on June 25, 2025, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images/AFP
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft lifts off at Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy Space Center before the launch of Axiom Space Axiom Mission on June 25, 2025, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images/AFP

Israel on Sunday said it had launched a new national communications satellite on board a SpaceX rocket from the United States.

The Dror 1 satellite was blasted into orbit on a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral in Florida, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and the foreign ministry said.

"This $200 million 'smartphone in space' will power Israel's strategic and civilian communications for 15 years," the ministry wrote on X.

Accompanying video footage showed the reusable, two-stage rocket lift off into the night sky. SpaceX said the launch happened at 1:04 am in Florida (0504 GMT Sunday).

IAI, which called the launch "a historic leap for Israeli space technology", said when it announced the project to develop and build Dror 1 that it was "the most advanced communication satellite ever built in Israel".

In September 2016, an unmanned Falcon 9 rocket exploded during a test in Florida, destroying Israel's Amos-6 communications satellite, which was estimated to have cost between $200 and 300 million.