The 15 July coup attempt, which was the starting point of the one-man regime, is now 7 years old. President Tayyip Erdoğan, who met with US President Joe Biden at the NATO leaders' summit in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, says he is ready to open a new page with the US, which he labelled as the "mastermind" of the coup attempt, and NATO, which he pointed to as the power behind it.

Although seven years have passed, there are still many unanswered questions, including why Hakan Fidan, then Undersecretary of the National Intelligence Organisation (MIT), and Hulusi Akar, then Chief of General Staff, who met at the General Staff headquarters after receiving a tip-off about the coup attempt, acted as if everything was normal instead of preventing it. However, these questions are blocked by the representatives of the government, especially Erdoğan, who says that he learnt about the coup attempt from his brother-in-law. Because Erdoğan knows that investigating the truth about the coup attempt by the Gulenists/FETÖ, with whom he shared power for 11 years and whom he said "What did they ask for that we didn't give?", would reveal the role of his own power and he is trying to prevent this.

Before talking on to the 15 July coup attempt and the position taken by the US and NATO, the following point should be made: The struggle for sovereignty/sharing between the imperialist powers, which became more visible after the war in Ukraine, provided the regional actors in the areas where this struggle continues with the opportunity to manoeuvre, albeit limited, to use this struggle for their own interests. This is the reality behind the position propagated by the government spokespersons and media as "Erdoğan's success". Moreover, despite his latest manoeuvres and negotiations on Finland and Sweden's NATO membership, Erdogan has not achieved any serious gains on the basis of his own power and the interests of the monopoly powers he represents. Because the negotiations are determined by the balance of power between the negotiating powers, and the approval of Sweden's NATO membership, which he had previously declared that he would not accept, actually shows the limits of Erdoğan's manoeuvres.

Moreover, if Erdoğan's manoeuvres based on the balances created by the struggle for sovereignty between the US (EU) and Russia (China) are "political mastery", then Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has enabled Saudi Arabia, which is known as a satellite of the US, to establish serious interest relations with Russia and China, must be considered a "political genius"!

So, what was the position of the US and NATO in the face of the 15 July coup attempt and what does it mean that Erdoğan wants to open a new page with these powers today?

In order to understand the position of the US and NATO in the face of the 15 July coup attempt, it is necessary to keep in mind that Erdoğan and the Gulenists came to power in the early 2000s in connection with the regional policy of the US and Western imperialists. Erdoğan and the Gulenists were supported by these Western powers as they made moves to liquidate their political rivals and strengthen the capital groups they were in co-operation with. When Erdoğan, whom they today call a "despot/dictator", was making the moves that paved the way for him, these powers were declaring him "Turkey's real democrat".

As Erdoğan and the Gulenists liquidated their rivals, the power struggle between them became more visible. Developments such as relations with Iran and the MIT operation of the Gulenists, the different stance of the Gulenists from Erdoğan on relations with Israel, the fact that relations with ISIS and Nusra in the Syrian war started to touch the interests of the US, but Erdoğan maintained these relations on the basis of his regional ambitions, etc. led to the rapid progression and sharpening of the power struggle between Erdoğan and the Gulenists and to the stage of a coup attempt.

There is no concrete evidence that the US and NATO supported the 15 July coup attempt, which had very limited support within the military and remained an ineffective attempt. However, there is no doubt that these powers see the Gülenists as more useful for their own policies. That is why the Gülenists tried to turn the widening gap between the Erdoğan administration and the US and NATO into a justification for the coup attempt, but they failed.

Just as Erdoğan has pursued a policy of making concessions to opposing forces in order to preserve his own position under the name of "normalisation" whenever he was in a tight spot, he also tried to balance the US and NATO by siding with Russia, which he was facing in the Syrian arena. Now, in the face of the economic squeeze and the narrowing of its political room for manoeuvre, it is promising to serve the US and NATO more and to be more tied to their political axis in return for their support for its government.

Looking at the developments briefly summarised here, we can draw the following conclusions: The 15 July coup attempt was the result of the struggle for sovereignty between the two reactionary forces in collaboration with imperialism that share power. Therefore, although the suppression of the coup attempt was declared a "democracy holiday", those who suppressed the coup took the country not to democracy but to a dictatorial regime.

Secondly, the relations and attitudes of the imperialists with the collaborative regional reactionaries are determined by the extent to which these forces serve their interests or not. Therefore, how the US and NATO will respond to Erdoğan's proposal to turn over a new page will again be determined by Erdoğan's steps towards being tied to their political axis.

It is clear that there is no 'pride' that can be drawn from this policy in favour of the peoples of Turkey.