Turkish Embassy Deplores ‘Prejudiced’ U.S. Media, Rolls Out Official Coup Documentary

Decrying a spate of negative press coverage, the Turkish Embassy in Washington made its case to reporters Friday that Ankara has not abused its authority in the wake of a failed coup, screening a slick, government-produced documentary that shows tanks running over protesters and fighter jets strafing a city.

Much of the film appeared to be taken from security cameras perched on buildings or from international TV news clips, including footage of a soldier shooting a civilian at point-blank range.

“Please give the benefit of the doubt to a government that has barely survived the worst attack on Turkish democracy in its history,” Turkish Ambassador to the United States Serdar Kilic said, citing the deaths of 246 people and the injuries of more than 2,000.

“There is a prejudice that President Erdogan and the government of Turkey is trying to take advantage of the attempted coup.”

In recent days, Turkey has suspended, detained, or placed under investigation more than 60,000 judges, soldiers, police, civil servants, and teachers suspected of ties with accused coup plotter Fethullah Gulen, a cleric living in the United States. Western governments and rights activists have raised concerns that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s crackdown may be extending beyond the coup plotters and targeting his political opponents — a charge Kilic denied.

“If it was the case” that Erdogan was exploiting the coup to crack down on the political opposition, “then not all the political parties would stand with the government in their fight against this terrorist organization,” he said, noting statements by Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party, and the Nationalist Movement Party condemning the coup attempt by a faction of the military.

Kilic repeatedly referred to the Gulen movement as a terrorist organization and said his government would continue pressing the United States to extradite the Pennsylvania-based religious cleric. When asked if Ankara submitted a formal extradition request to the Washington, he said officials “submitted the necessary documentation” to U.S. authorities.

Secretary of State John Kerry has said the United States will consider any extradition request for Gulen from Turkey but that Washington’s decision will be based on the strength of the evidence. “Obviously, we would invite the government of Turkey, as we always do, to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny,” Kerry said earlier this week. “And the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments about it appropriately.”

When James Clapper, the U.S. director of national intelligence, was asked on Thursday if allegations that Gulen orchestrated the coup attempt passed the “smell test,” Clapper told the Washington Post “No. Not to me.”

When asked if Turkey had evidence directly linking Gulen to the coup, Kilic stated that a “number of plotters who have been apprehended” have “confessed direct links” to Gulen. He said the confessions would be publicized at some point but did not give a specific date.

Asked how far the purges might go, Kilic said: “If you ask my opinion, it should go to the extent possible until the point where we can ensure that no attempt again will be orchestrated against the Turkish democratic system of government.”