If the United States was aware that some in the military were planning to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, they did not alert Turkish authorities because Washington wanted the coup to succeed, expert on strategic studies at the LUISS Guido Carli University Germano Dottori told RIA Novosti.

"The main question is not who was behind the coup in Turkey or whether Fethullah Gülen, who lives in the US, was linked to it. What we need to understand is why the US did not prevent the coup from taking place if they were aware that some in the military were [planning to overthrow Erdogan]? I think that the Americans did not interfere because they hoped that the coup would be successful," he said.

On July 16, a group of mid-level military officers tried to oust Erdogan , but failed. The Turkish president and his supporters have blamed influential Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen for the coup, urging the US to extradite Erdogan's archenemy, who has lived in Pennsylvania since 1999.

Dottori maintained that Washington's reaction to the coup serves as a proof that the Obama administration wanted the uprising to succeed.

"The Americans were silent up until the moment when State Secretary John Kerry called for 'continuity within Turkey.' In other words, they were counting on the coup to be successful. Only four hours later Obama backed democratically elected authorities. Later [NATO Secretary-General] Jens Stoltenberg expressed similar sentiments on behalf of the alliance," the analyst said.

Dottori suggested that Turkey's recent foreign policy U-turn could serve as the main reason why Washington wanted to see new faces in power.

"I think that it happened primarily because the Americans were not happy about Turkey mending ties with Russia. To me, it is the only event that could have sparked concern in the Obama administration," he noted.

Relations between Moscow and Ankara went into deep freeze after Turkey shot down a Russian bomber out of Syrian skies on November 24, 2015. They were recently restored after Erdogan apologized to President Vladimir Putin for the incident.