IT WASN’T A FAILED COUP; IT’S A SUCCESSFUL PURGE: Retired U.S. General Dismisses Allegations He Masterminded Turkey Coup.

John Campbell, a retired four-star general who oversaw the U.S.-led military coalition in Afghanistan until May, told The Wall Street Journal that the story “doesn’t even warrant a response.”

“It’s absolutely ridiculous,” Mr. Campbell said of the front-page article in Yeni Safak, a pro-government Turkish newspaper.

On July 15, a small group of Turkish generals unsuccessfully tried to topple the government in a coup attempt that was thwarted after thousands of Turkish citizens heeded President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ’s call to take to the streets and resist.

Within hours, the coup crumbled. Mr. Erdogan has responded to the attempted military coup with a sweeping crackdown and a three-month state of emergency.

In the days since the failed military coup, some members of the Turkish government and newspapers supporting Mr. Erdogan have accused the U.S. of secretly backing the plot.

The U.S. government has categorically dismissed the allegations, which have helped stoke anti-American sentiment in Turkey.

Why would members of the Turkish government and pro-government outlets accuse the US of masterminding the “coup,” when the Obama Administration has been and still is a strong backer of the Erdogan regime?