President Obama says claims U.S. knew about Turkey coup ‘false’

The U.S. had no advance knowledge of last week’s failed coup attempt in Turkey, President Obama said Friday.

Reports to the contrary are “unequivocally false,” he said.

Obama said he had made that clear to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan when they spoke by telephone earlier this week. The President also stressed to Erdogan that everyone in the Turkish government should know the U.S. had no prior warning.

Diplomatic relations and the safety of Americans in Turkey could be at risk otherwise, the President said.

“Any reports that we had any previous knowledge of a coup attempt, that there was any U.S. involvement in it, that we were anything other than entirely supportive of Turkish democracy are completely false, unequivocally false,” Obama said.

After the coup attempt, Obama expressed strong support for Turkey’s democratically elected, civilian government.

On Friday, he expressed concern over the crackdown Erdogan has undertaken since the overthrow was thwarted.

Turkey, a NATO ally, is a key player in the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group. U.S. military jets use the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey to conduct air strikes against ISIS extremists in Syria and Iraq.