Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday asked forgiveness over his past alliance with US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen whom Ankara blames for last month’s attempted coup.
In a rare show of public humility, Erdogan said he had failed to see the “true face” of Gulen, who cooperated closely with the Turkish strongman while he was mayor of Istanbul in the 1990s and after his Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002.
Gulen, who has lived in exile since 1999 after charges were laid against him by Turkey’s then secular authorities, has vehemently denied from his Pennsylvania compound all accusations of involvement in the coup.
“Despite everything, I feel sad that I failed to reveal the true face of this traitor organisation long before,” Erdogan said in a televised speech, referring to Gulen’s network which Turkey alleges is a terror group.
“I know that we have to give account both to our God and to our people. Let my God and my people forgive us,” he said.
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