Tactical Talk (Update) The former commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, retired US Army General John F. Campbell, was the mastermind behind the failed military coup in Turkey, the Yeni Safak daily has reported, citing sources close to the investigation.
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General John F. Campbell, 59, was “one of the top figures who organized and managed the soldiers behind the failed coup attempt in Turkey,” the conservative paper’s English-language edition said on Monday.
The paper is known for its loyal support of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was the target of the coup attempt.
According to Yeni Safak, Campbell “also managed more than $2 billion in transactions via UBA Bank in Nigeria by using CIA links to distribute among the pro-coup military personnel in Turkey.”
The retired US general had allegedly paid “at least two secret visits” to Turkey since May up to the attempted coup, which the Turkish authorities blamed on what they call the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).
Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, warned on Monday that ties with Washington could suffer unless they extradite the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, Erdogan’s ideological adversary. Washington has repeatedly said that Turkey must provide solid evidence of any links Gulen might have to the attempted coup before any possible extradition process is discussed.
The Turkish daily reported that Campbell had top secret meetings at the Erzurum military base and Incirlik air base in Turkey, adding that the US general “directed the process of trending / blacklisting the military officers in the base.”
According to the paper, “Millions of dollars of money has been transferred from Nigeria to Turkey by a group of CIA personnel. The money, which has been distributed to an 80-person special team of the CIA, was used to convince pro-coup generals. After taking money from their bank accounts, the CIA team hand-delivered it to the terrorists under the military dresses.”
