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Misreading of a coup attempt

The amateurism of the attempted coup on the night of July 15 raises questions.
People stand on a Turkish army tank in Ankara, Turkey July 16, 2016.   REUTERS/Tumay Berkin - RTSI7T9

While the Turkish coup was underway, The New York Times was asking me whether I was surprised, expecting my answer to be, “Of course I am.”

I bluntly wanted to respond “No” and remind New York Times correspondent Sabrina Tavernise that only two weeks ago, in our lengthy chat in Istanbul, I had told her of the “Faustian bargain President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan made with the military, which therefore, in my opinion, opened the way for a coup or a coup attempt to take place in Turkey within the upcoming two years.”

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