U.S. President Barack Obama is convening his National Security Council
on July 16 following the attempted coup d’etat in Turkey overnight,
officials said.
“The president will convene a meeting with his
national security and broader foreign policy team to update him on the
situation in Turkey,” the White House said in a statement.
The Turkish authorities regained control of the country on July 16 after thwarting the coup attempt.
He
expressed Washington’s hope “that in the immediate hours things will
remain calm, that there will be a constitutional process and a legal
process that will deal with coup plotters.”
He said that, so far, the crisis in Turkey had not affected the country’s cooperation with the rest of the NATO alliance nor its role as part of the U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIL in Syria neighboring Turkey.
“I’m
sure that people will wonder about allegations of who may have
instigated this and where the support came from,” Kerry said, in a nod
to the accusations swirling around Gulen and his alleged supporters in
the Turkish military.
“The United States will obviously be
supportive of any legitimate investigative efforts and under due process
and within the law we will be completely supportive of efforts to
assist the government of Turkey if they so request.”