MESOP INSIDERS: Charges Filed Against U.S. Defense Officials in Turkey over Coup Allegations / Erdogan fires soccer Refeeres & Sportsmen – SOURCES

A Turkish lawyer filed a criminal complaint alleging that three U.S. defense officials — Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford, CENTCOM Commander Gen. Joseph Votel, and National Intelligence Director James Clapper — were involved in the failed July 15 coup attempt in Turkey. The complaint claims that U.S. officials conspired with and supported the coup plotters at Incirlik airbase, where fighter jets that supported the coup were based. The complaint will now proceed to Turkish prosecutors who will decide whether or not to take further action. Conspiracy theories about U.S. involvement in the coup have been reported in Turkish media and are widely believed among the Turkish public.

The post-coup purges in Turkey have now affected even the country’s soccer federation, which announced yesterday that it has fired 105 people, including “referees, linesmen and national and regional observers,” after an internal investigation about the coup