US reaction to coup may have fallen short: Top US diplomat
WASHINGTON - Anadolu Agency
The United States may not have shown enough sympathy for Turkey after the failed July 15 coup attempt, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken admitted on Nov. 1.“The truth is I don’t think that many of us fully understood – or maybe we didn’t communicate that we understood – the depth of feeling and emotion in Turkey for the events of July. This was a dagger aimed at the heart of the Turkish state and at the Turkish people,” Blinken said at the American-Turkish Council and U.S.-Turkish Business Council’s 35th Annual Conference on U.S.-Turkish Relations.
Recalling his visit at the end of September to Turkey where he also visited the Turkish parliament, Blinken shared his experience, saying: “I have to tell you that this visit resonated deeply with me. I worked for a number of years in the United States Senate for six years, and few things are more chilling than that sight of the people’s house damaged so grievously in an attack.”
Turkish Ambassador to U.S. Serdar Kılıç, also speaking at the conference, said Turkey expected the U.S. government and American people to take a stronger stance against the coup attempt.
He called the reaction of various American and European media outlets and think tanks “disappointing,” adding that some went so far as to suggest that it was the government itself that staged the coup attempt.
Recalling his visit at the end of September to Turkey where he also visited the Turkish parliament, Blinken shared his experience, saying: “I have to tell you that this visit resonated deeply with me. I worked for a number of years in the United States Senate for six years, and few things are more chilling than that sight of the people’s house damaged so grievously in an attack.”
Turkish Ambassador to U.S. Serdar Kılıç, also speaking at the conference, said Turkey expected the U.S. government and American people to take a stronger stance against the coup attempt.
He called the reaction of various American and European media outlets and think tanks “disappointing,” adding that some went so far as to suggest that it was the government itself that staged the coup attempt.
