Why is US media trying to boost FETÖ?

When the coup attempt instigated by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) failed on July 15, 2016, too many American media groups were so vocally and openly disappointed and upset that it made us wonder who was behind this awkward support.

Was it the millions of dollars dished out by FETÖ in the U.S. that found its way to the American media?

Was it the fine work of the strong lobbies hired by FETÖ against Turkey and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan?

Or was it the growing anti-Erdoğan hatred in Washington because the Turkish president is following independent policies that the U.S. dislikes?

The answer to these questions may well be all three. In the past year since the coup failed we have seen with disgust the growing negative attitude of the American press while Washington refuses to act against Gülen and his gang, which is active on U.S. soil. Fetullah Gülen, who lives in a plush Pennsylvania mansion under strong American protection, has been emboldened by the tacit U.S. support given to him and is continuing to insult and threaten Turkey and the Turkish people. Washington, which is supposed to be our ally, has not lifted a finger even to put him under house arrest, let alone extradite him. Gülen continues to vomit his hatred toward the Turkish people who fought against the tanks he sent against them on the night of the coup.

Gülen openly used the pages of prominent American daily the Wall Street Journal to spread his lies and insult Turkey and the Turkish people.

But that was not all. Henri Barkey, a Cohen Professor of International Relations at Lehigh University wrote an article in the Washington Post actually saying the coup attempt was not really a coup but a staged act. Those of us who lived through that terrible night when Gülen's soldiers killed 250 people and wounded 2,193 others, bombed Parliament and the Presidential Palace feel deeply offended by this strange and hate-riddled article.

Henri Barkey has been charged with being a part of this plot as he attended a strange meeting of "intellectuals" and foreigners at the Büyükada island off Istanbul on the night of the coup. Those of us who know Barkey felt all this was an exaggeration by those who wanted to find a foreign-instigated plot in the bloody coup attempt, but when we read the Washington Post article we were hit with the notion that Barkey was in fact a part of something that I do not even want to mention. Great disappointment. Besides the Washington Post story, there was an article in The New York Times written by opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Deputy Şafak Pavey about the state of the Turkish prison system that was absolute rubbish. Her claims that prisoners are denied books and other materials are absolutely false. Her claims of torture and mistreatment of suspects are false. It is clear she has been picked to be a part of the anti-Turkish campaign in the American media to defame Turkey on the anniversary of the sorrowful coup attempt.

The huge crowds that turned up in the squares of Turkey on the night of the anniversary of the coup to show their support for democracy and Erdoğan seems to be an appropriate answer to the meaningless campaign unleashed by U.S. media.