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WASHINGTON / AFP
US President Barack Obama was huddling with top national security advisers in the White House Situation Room on Saturday to address the destabilizing coup attempt in Turkey.
The government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan appears to have repelled the plot, but the situation remained fraught and tensions between Washington and Ankara appeared to be growing.
In a statement, the White House said that Obama had convened a meeting with “his national security and broader foreign policy team to update him on the situation in Turkey.”
During the coup, Obama offered vocal support for Turkey’s “democratically elected government” and urged all parties to “avoid any violence or bloodshed.”
But there were growing concerns of a government crackdown on Erdogan’s opponents.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a key Obama ally on the world stage, has urged Erdogan to deal with coup plotters under the rule of law.
The Turkish authorities have imposed a security lockdown and cut power to the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey which is used by US forces.