US Embassy confirms call to key coup attempt figure in line with cooperation with Turkish officials

The United States Embassy to Turkey has confirmed the occurrence of a call from the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul to a phone belonging to fugitive coup attempt suspect Adil Öksüz on July 21, 2016, as stated in an indictment prepared by a Turkish court. The embassy said the call was part of law enforcement cooperation with Turkish officials to stop Öksüz from fleeing the country. 

"As a direct result of close U.S.-Turkish law enforcement cooperation, a call from the U.S. Consulate General Istanbul to a phone belonging to Adil Öksüz on July 21, 2016 did occur. On that day, the Turkish National Police called the U.S. Mission Turkey to request our assistance in preventing Adil Öksüz from fleeing Turkey," read the written statement issued by the embassy on March 29. 

"We then revoked his U.S. visa and, as required by U.S. law, tried to call him to inform him of the cancellation. Far from being suspicious, the call from the Consulate General illustrates the close U.S.-Turkish law enforcement cooperation following the coup attempt," it added. 

The statement followed the release of the indictment by a prosecutor on the failed coup attempt which suggested that a phone call was made by a mobile phone registered under the name of the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul to Adil Ökzüz, a suspected leader of the July 2016 coup attempt, six days after the uprising. 

Prosecutors have completed the indictment on coup events centered on the Akıncı Air Base in Ankara, the headquarters of the coup attempt where members of the top brass were held captive by the plotters for hours, sources said, adding that the indictment would be made public on March 30.

The phone call from the U.S. Consulate General was made on July 21, 2016, the...