Mustafa Akyol writes in Foreign Policy that Washington’s tepid response to the attempted coup and continued sheltering of Fethullah Gülen has Turks questioning the US-Turkey relationship. But it’s not too late to fix that.

Most foreigners seem to have difficulty understanding just what a watershed event last month’s failed coup was for Turkey. My country has had four military coups before, but this one was different. No coup had seen the parliament bombed, the police fighting rebellious soldiers, and, most importantly, ordinary people defying army tanks at the cost of their lives. More than 240 people died on that long night, 173 of them civilians, and they are now commemorated all across the country as “martyrs of democracy.” Istanbul’s Bosphorus Bridge, where some of the resistance took place, is now called “July 15 Martyrs’ Bridge.” News of the people’s sacrifice, and the marches to praise their glory, can still be heard on any radio or TV.

The culprit and motive behind the failed coup plot were also unique. In previous coups, the Turkish military would launch an overthrow to “correct” the mistakes of politicians but would also promise to quickly restore democracy. Hence, some Turks would support the coups or at least “understand” them. This one, however, was the work of a cabal within the military that virtually everybody in Turkey — both President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his secular, left-wing, and Kurdish foes — identifies as FETO, or the “Gulenist Terror Organization.”

The feeble Western reaction to the coup has left a bitter taste in the mouths of even the most pro-Western Turks. This has certainly fueled anti-Westernism, in particular anti-Americanism, in Erdogan’s base. Furthermore, the Gulen issue is very likely to deepen these feelings. The longer Gulen finds a safe haven in the United States, the more Turks will think that America is really “behind” him.

Full article available here.