The Turkish government has failed to convince Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency that U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen was behind last summer's failed coup in Turkey, the BND head told a German magazine Der Spiegel.
"Turkey has tried to convince us of that at every level but so far it has not succeeded," BND head Bruno Kahl said in the interview.
Asked whether the Gülen religious sect was extreme Islamist or terrorist, Kahl said it was a "civil association that aims to provide further religious and secular education".
Kahl also said he did not think the Turkish government was behind the coup, saying: "The coup attempt was not initiated by the government. Before July 15 the government had already started a big purge so parts of the military thought they should do a coup quickly before it hit them too."
