EXCLUSIVE: UAE 'funnelled money to Turkish coup plotters'

 EXCLUSIVE: UAE 'funnelled money to Turkish coup plotters'

Palestinian exile and Emirati middleman Dahlan was in contact with cleric Gulen before coup attempt, Turkish sources claim

Mohammed Dahlan is considered to have close ties to Abu Dhabi's crown prince, Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (AFP)

Par David Hearst

Published date: Vendredi 29 juillet 2016 - 20:16 | Last update: 5 years 1 month ago

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The United Arab Emirates' government collaborated with coup plotters in Turkey before the unsuccessful attempt was launched, using exiled Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan as a go-between with the US-based cleric accused by Turkey of orchestrating the plot, sources close to one of Turkey’s intelligence services told Middle East Eye.

Dahlan is alleged to have transferred money to the plotters in Turkey in the weeks before the coup attempt and to have communicated with Fethullah Gulen, the cleric alleged by Turkey to have masterminded the plot, via a Palestinian businessman based in the US.

The identity of this man, who is close to Dahlan, is known to a Turkish intelligence service.

Throughout the night of the coup on 15 July, pan-Arab media based in Dubai including Sky News Arabic and Al Arabiya reported that the coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the ruling Justice and Development Party had been successful.

At one point, media outlets influenced by the Emirates claimed that Erdogan had fled the country. Still, there is no suggestion that the media outlets were involved in the coup

It took the government of the UAE 16 hours - one hour after a statement by Saudi Arabia - to condemn the coup and to support Erdogan as the legitimate president of Turkey.

According to sources who spoke to MEE, the UAE then launched an operation to distance itself from Dahlan.

UAE indicated on social media that there was “anger with Dahlan”. Shortly afterwards, he was forced to leave the UAE and is understood to be in Egypt.

Dahlan is a former leader of the Palestinian political party Fatah who was exiled from Gaza and the West Bank and is thought to have close ties to Abu Dhabi's crown prince, Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

He is alleged to have been used as a conduit for UAE funds and communications in various operations throughout the Middle East.

MEE reported in May that the UAE, Jordan and Egypt had identified Dahlan as a favoured successor to the current Fatah leader, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Dahlan is also linked to attempts to stoke the civil war in Libya. In a secret recording of Abbas Kamel, then-office manager of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Kamel revealed that Dahlan, accompanied by three people, would secretly visit Libya on a private jet.

Kamel recommended that a military official allow Dahlan to leave the Libyan airport in secret. Kamel said Dahlan had already caused a problem for the Egyptian authorities because he travels “upon orders from the UAE, which monitors all of his movements”. 

Since the failure of the coup, the Emiratis have tried to mend fences with Ankara. They detained two Turkish generals at Dubai international airport on suspicion of having links to the coup .

Mehmet Cahit Bakir, a major general in command of the Afghanistan Turkish Task Force, and Sener Topuc, a brigadier general in command of the Train, Advise and Assist Command in Kabul, were deported back to Ankara.

The UAE are even more fearful of a backlash that may come after the purge of the Turkish army that Erdogan is conducting.

An informed source told MEE: “They now feel that Erdogan is in full power. They do not like him personally and think of him as a man who will seek to take revenge. Once Erdogan has cleaned out the stables, they think he will then turn on those outside the country who supported the coup.”

A total of 126 army generals have been arrested in connection with the attempted coup. This represents about one-third of all the generals in the Turkish armed forces.

Revelations about Dahlan’s conversations with the Palestinian businessman in the US before the coup could also increase pressure on Washington to consider Turkey’s request for Gulen to be extradited.

Turkey’s foreign and justice ministers are set to travel in person to the US to demand the extradition of Gulen, but for that to succeed they must present a US judge with prima facie evidence to back the list of criminal charges, and proof that similar charges exist under US law.

If the charges clear that hurdle, Gulen would still be open to the defence that the charges are political in nature and that he could not be guaranteed of a fair trial in Turkey. About 2,700 judges were removed from their posts after the coup.

This article is available in French on Middle East Eye French edition.

UAE allegedly funneled $3B to topple Erdoğan, Turkish government

https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/2017/06/13/uae-allegedly-funneled-3b-to-topple-erdogan-turkish-government

BY YUNUS PAKSOY

 ANKARA POLITICS JUN 13, 2017 12:00 AM GMT+3

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (L), Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi (Reuters File Photo)

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (L), Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi (Reuters File Photo)

After President Erdoğan said 'Turkey knew which Gulf countries were happy with the coup attempt on the night of July 15, some eyes are turned to the UAE, which allegedly funneled money to coup plotters before July 15 and still continues spending to topple the president and the democratically elected government in Turkey

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) spent $3 billion to topple President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the democratically elected government in Turkey, a columnist in the Turkish media claimed yesterday.

Mehmet Acet, a columnist for Yeni Şafak daily, said Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu hinted at a Muslim country "spending $3 billion to topple Erdoğan and the government in Turkey," while lending support to putschists in the July 15 coup attempt, as well.

According to Acet, Çavuşoğlu said: "We know that a country provided $3 billion in financial support for the coup attempt in Turkey and exerted efforts to topple the government in illegal ways. On top of that, it is a Muslim country."

The columnist claimed that the Muslim country was the UAE, claiming the funneled money was to topple Erdoğan and the Turkish government.

Speaking to Daily Sabah regarding the claim, Acet said sources from the Turkish Foreign Ministry confirmed the Muslim country was indeed the UAE. "The minister did not name the country. However, sources from the foreign ministry have confirmed that it was the UAE," Acet told the paper.

Deputy coordinator of the Ankara-based Foundation for Political Economic and Social Research (SETA), Professor Muhittin Ataman, said the UAE has already engaged in attempts against the Turkish government since the beginning of the Arab Spring, adding that it did not abstain from diplomatic and economic costs in this regard.

Shortly after the July 15 coup attempt carried out by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), David Hearst of the Middle East Eye claimed the owner of the Al-Ghad TV Channel, Mohammed Dahlan, had transferred money to the terrorist group for the attempted coup.

According to a piece written by Hearst in the Middle East Eye on July 29, Dahlan allegedly transferred money to FETÖ putschists in the weeks before the coup attempt and even communicated with Fetullah Gülen through a person close to him. Dahlan reportedly has close links to the UAE.

On the night of the coup attempt, UAE media reported that the Gülenists were in fact successful. The July 15 coup attempt was thwarted in the early hours of July 16 after Gülenist putschists fired on civilians, killing 249, and bombed Turkish Parliament, as well as trying to raid the house where President Erdoğan was staying that night.

Last week, President Erdoğan said Ankara knew which Gulf countries were happy with the coup attempt on the night of July 15. "We know very well who was happy in the Gulf when there was a coup attempt in Turkey. We have an intelligence agency if some have it. We know very well who spent that night and how."The president also stressed that Turkey has knowledge of how some countries have spent money in this regard.

Stressing that the UAE is involved in activities in areas of unrest, Ataman said: "We know that the UAE carries bags of money from Somalia to Egypt where there is an uprising. Their anti-Turkey activities seem to be in line with their policy."

FETÖ leader Gülen appeared on Al-Ghad following the coup attempt, calling on the West to topple Erdoğan. He claimed that Turkey was being "dragged into a civil war" and called on the West to immediately overthrow the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government and get rid of President Erdoğan.

In addition, some emails allegedly stolen from the inbox of Yousef Al-Otaiba, the UAE's ambassador to the U.S., revealed that the UAE might have been involved in the July 15 coup attempt.

In one of the emails obtained by The Intercept, senior counselor John Hannah of the pro-Israel, neo-conservative think-tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) sent Otaiba an article claiming that both the UAE and the FDD were responsible for the July 15 military coup attempt in Turkey, saying he is "honored to be in the UAE's company."