Turkey frustrated after US embassy confirms contact with coup suspect
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ANKARA: (APP) Turkey on Wednesday voiced anger after it emerged that the US consulate in Istanbul had contacted a chief suspect in last year's failed coup, who is currently on the run.
But the US embassy in Turkey said its Istanbul consulate contacted theology lecturer Adil Oksuz only to inform him that his American visa had been revoked.
The affair comes on the eve of a key visit by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who is due to meet in Ankara with Turkish leaders including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkish officials have said that Oksuz was the so-called "imam" of the plot and in charge of coordinating between US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen and the army before the July 15 failed coup.
Gulen is accused by Ankara of ordering the attempted putsch aimed at overthrowing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He strongly denies the charges.
Oksuz was detained in the aftermath of the coup but then released and is now on the run.
The embassy in Ankara said the US consulate general in Istanbul called Oksuz on July 21 after Turkish police contacted the US mission in Turkey the same day for help in preventing him leaving the country.
"We then revoked his US visa and, as required by US law, tried to call him to inform him of the cancellation," the embassy said in a statement.
