Turkey issues warrant for CIA-linked expert Henri Barkey

Henri Barkey is accused of being one of the international organisers of last year's coup attempt
Monday, 13 November 2017 07:03

The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in İstanbul issued a warrant for the CIA-linked Turkey expert Henri Barkey over charges of plotting July 15 coup attempt, pro-government daily Star reported.

Barkey coordinated the meeting in Splendid Hotel at Büyükada island off İstanbul just before the last year's coup attempt, Star said citing the prosecutor’s investigative report.

The report, which also includes notes about the imprisoned U.S. consulate officer Metin Topuz and Soros-linked businessman Osman Kavala, also argues that Barkey had several meetings with them in Turkey and abroad. Kavala and Topuz were arrested last month for "attempting to overthrow the government" in connection with the July 2016 attempted putsch and "attempting to overthrow the constitutional order". 

The attorneys of Kavala issued a public statement denying the allegations of a link between Kavala and Barkey, saying that "the allegations of a busy phone traffic between Barkey and Kavala do not reflect the truth since they are not records of phone calls but HTS records from the same base station."

'TURKISH FM UNDERSECRETARY, EMBASSY KNEW OF BÜYÜKADA MEETING' 

Barkey said both the Turkish Embassy in Washington and the Turkish Foreign Ministry undersecretary were aware of the meeting. 

"It was not a secret. Moreover, the Turkish Embassy in Washington was aware of it. I had informed the then-Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary [Feridun Sinirlioğlu] that I was organizing the meeting," Barkey told Diken news website on Sunday.

Barkey is a CIA-linked expert on the Middle East and a theorist of "moderate Islamism". The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office claims that he has ties with Fethullah Gülen, one of the U.S.-based masterminds behind the failed coup. Barkey had published the book "Turkey's Kurdish Question" with Graham Fuller, a former CIA officer. 

In April, The Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in İstanbul launched a probe into 17 individuals including U.S. politicians, bureaucrats and academics, who are suspected of being linked to the network of Gülen. The suspects have been accused of attempting to overthrow the Turkish government and the country’s constitution and being members of a terror organisation.

Former CIA Director John O. Brennan, New York Senator Chuck Schumer, US attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) President David Cohen and Barkey are among the suspects.