Turkey Coup: Was Major General Jeff Taliaferro the Liaising Officer?

a reply to: ipsedixit

The same reason they sent Patriot batteries. Turkey has a good military and can take care of themselves, but need assistance for some missions. Four AWACS aircraft can't patrol a country 24/7 for more than a couple days.

a reply to: thesungod

I'm sorry I didn't furnish it to you. Most people, but not you, would have just looked him up in wikipedia. There is a reference to the involvement of his network in the Sledgehammer Coup trial, the first link I gave you.

There is a limit to the amount of really newbie style legwork I am willing to do for you, OK?

Here is the link to his biography. He emigrated to the US in 1999.

en.wikipedia.org...ülen#Split_with_Erdo.C4.9Fan

a reply to: ipsedixit

I have looked it up and everything I can find says the Gulen movement didn't start until the 90s. The schools didn't spring up until the 2000s.

a reply to: thesungod

Keep looking.

And start thinking.

a reply to: ipsedixit

You are being highly condescending. I'm going to assume that since you can't post a link that you are just lying. The Gulen movement started in the 90s. So no NATO or Gulen in 1980 when they couped for similiar reasons, putting one more point in the column for organic coup.

Here is some more circumstantial evidence that makes it difficult to believe that there was no American involvement, or at least foreknowledge of the coup attempt. Foreknowledge that was not passed on to the Turkish government.

www.trtworld.com...

Controversial comments on Thursday by US Central Command Commander Gen. Joseph Votel and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper have caused concern and raised suspicion on whether if the US had a role or knew in advance about the July 15 coup attempt in Turkey.

Gen. Joseph Votel speaking at the Aspen Security Forum, a Colorado-based think tank, said some officers whom the US had relationships with have been imprisoned for their role in the coup attempt and added, “We have certainly had relationships with a lot of Turkish leaders -- military leaders in particular. I am concerned about what the impact is on those relationships as we continue.” . . .

Turkish authorities cut electricity to the base after it was discovered that Turkish forces at Incirlik were involved in the coup, and two tanker aircraft took off from the base to refuel F-16’s involved in the coup. The US used an internal power system to launch aircraft from the base until commercial electricity was restored earlier this week.

US Secretary of State John Kerry had said that the difficulty for US planes accessing Incirlik might have been a result of planes flown in support of the coup using the airbase to refuel. Significantly, one of the commanders of Incirlik Air Base, General Bekir Ercan Van, was among those detained over the failed coup.

One of the ironies of this situation is that it would be in the interest of Fethulla Gulen if knowledge of American complicity or participation in the coup attempt were to come out. It would put the American government into the stew pot with him and make it almost impossible for the government to extradite him to Turkey.

Of course, that would put US/Turkish relations right into the dumpster. Quite a dilemma for the parties involved. If I were Gulen, I would get one of my imprisoned Turkish military associates to spill the beans. The military prisoner could cut a deal with the Turkish government, exile in exchange for "state's evidence" against the US.

Then the ball would be in Turkey's court about their future course of action. They might actually prefer that the taint of this not reach the United States itself. They might want to pretend to hang it all on Gulen, at least until they can get their hands on him.

All the more reason for Gulen to rat on the US.

a reply to: ipsedixit

James Corbett's latest is worth a look as it has a dot to add to all the others .

If anybody wants a little fun they might want to read the discussion of the coup at the following link:

www.econjobrumors.com...

I gather the discussion is between academics in economics who are either Turks themselves or people with connections to Turkey. They refer to the Turkish press. At about page three or four, the discussion gets heated as to whether AWACS aircraft were helping the plotters or were on the government side trying to track the coup helicopters.

I shouldn't put too much credence on one side or the other of this debate in the discussion, but it does show that Turks themselves are advancing both sides of the argument.

I had to chuckle when I read the following, quoted from a Macedonian news outlet,

macedoniaonline.eu...

There isn't a country that didn't know a coup was underway in Turkey (apparently with the exception of the Turks who were wondering why were there tanks on the Bosphorus bridge). The specific coup-date kept being moved and wasn't known, however (alleged CIA tool) CNN's Christiana Amanpour helped everyone narrow it down when she set up base in Ankara and Istanbul just two days before the coup.

The whole article is interesting, but, since it is discussing events and incidents, some of which were undertaken secretly, its veracity, despite being plausible, is impossible to determine.

a reply to: ipsedixit

So all eyes are on General Campbell.

And who are all eyes?

have to say, though, that when American involvement became the subject of rumor and mention was made of clandestine visits to Incirlik by an American General, in the lead up to the coup attempt, in the Turkish press, quoting a Turkish politician, I thought that, if this rumor were true, the general would not have been from the Army.

Why would an American General have a clandestine visit to a base where American servicemen are stationed?

You do know Turkey's PM has already said the US was not involved in the coup...

“Of course, since the leader of this terrorist organisation is residing in the United States there are question marks in the minds of the people whether there is any US involvement or backing,” he said in an interview with the Guardian, taking care to note that Washington was not involved in the coup attempt.“So America from this point on should really think how they will continue to cooperate with Turkey, which is a strategic ally for them in the region and world.”

www.theguardian.com...

That pretty much ends that there since now we know Turkey has said the US was not involved. SO the General couldn't have been involved because if he had been that would show the US was involved and that comment would have been very different.

Major General Jeff Taliaferro

You do understand this man has only been stationed overseas in Afghanistan for about a year or so and everything before that was stateside, so what connection to this coup does he have?

You can see more about him here...

www.af.mil...

General Taliaferro seems to have arrived on the scene after General West, which begs the question, was he brought in specifically for this operation?

Why from his prior positions he seems to be nothing more than an office general.

originally posted by: tsurfer2000h

And who are all eyes?

People who watch the MSM.

Why would an American General have a clandestine visit to a base where American servicemen are stationed?

To plot a coup with Turkish co conspirators.

You do know Turkey's PM has already said the US was not involved in the coup...

I don't think he was telling the truth.

That pretty much ends that there since now we know Turkey has said the US was not involved. SO the General couldn't have been involved because if he had been that would show the US was involved and that comment would have been very different.

Unless the Turkish PM was lying or was unaware of the truth.

Major General Jeff Taliaferro

You do understand this man has only been stationed overseas in Afghanistan for about a year or so and everything before that was stateside, so what connection to this coup does he have?

Liaising with Turkish officers to coordinate air surveillance of the coup attempt.

Why from his prior positions he seems to be nothing more than an office general.

Deception is often part of war.

a reply to: ipsedixit

But wait doesn't the MSM lie all the time so why would they be believed?

So you believe the Turkish government when one person implicates the US...but when the PM says they aren't you think he is lying...boy that bias really shows hard here.

So what makes him a liar...because your want to believe the US is connected is so bad you can't fathom that your wrong so you call the man who is second in charge of the country a liar...go figure.

a reply to: ipsedixit

DP

a reply to: ipsedixit

You are trying to push a false narrative and exactly what evidence other than the fact the man has been in Afghanistan for about a year that he has any ties to anything in Turkey...because you haven't provided anything as of yet.

And making things up is not how one denies ignorance...something that seems to be lost here layely.

originally posted by: tsurfer2000h

But wait doesn't the MSM lie all the time so why would they be believed?

I don't know.

So you believe the Turkish government when one person implicates the US...but when the PM says they aren't you think he is lying...boy that bias really shows hard here.

That's not exactly what I said.

So what makes him a liar...because your want to believe the US is connected is so bad you can't fathom that your wrong so you call the man who is second in charge of the country a liar...go figure.

I'm not sure what he is doing. I suspect that the US is involved.

originally posted by: tsurfer2000h
a reply to: ipsedixit

DP

DP

originally posted by: tsurfer2000h
a reply to: ipsedixit

You are trying to push a false narrative and exactly what evidence other than the fact the man has been in Afghanistan for about a year that he has any ties to anything in Turkey...because you haven't provided anything as of yet.

And making things up is not how one denies ignorance...something that seems to be lost here layely.

It's called speculation. It's fun, like trying to figure stuff out. It's like a game. It's part of what we do here on ATS. Let me quote something from my first post which might help you understand, if you read it again for the second time.

The following is all speculation and therefore of no importance or validity whatsoever.

This is an interesting quote from the Turkish press. The German foreign minister, Sigmar Gabriel has stated that Turkey will never become a member of the European Community as long as Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is President of Turkey.

www.hurriyetdailynews.com...

Ankara has slammed Germany over German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel’s statement that Turkey will never join the European Union as long as it is governed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Gabriel’s remarks came on Aug. 24 amid a bitter ongoing war of words between Ankara and Berlin.

“He should mind his own business. He should mind his own country’s business and not try to put Turkey in line,” Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said after Friday prayers in Ankara on Aug. 25.

“No one can put Turkey in line. No one has the right to intervene in Turkey’s internal affairs,” Yıldırım added.

In an interview with German daily Bild, Gabriel had accused Erdoğan of failing to take accession talks with the EU seriously.

“It is clear that in this state, Turkey will never become a member of the EU,” he said.

“It’s not because we don’t want them but because the Turkish government and Erdoğan are moving fast away from everything that Europe stands for,” he added.

Did the Germans just come to this conclusion or was this something that has been German policy since before the coup attempt and is only now being made explicit? I can't answer that question, but the statement is certainly arresting against the background of the speculations in this thread.