(CNN) President Barack Obama rejected on Friday suggestions the US was behind a failed coup in Turkey, voicing strong support for the government in Ankara and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"Any reports that we had any previous knowledge of a coup attempt, that there was any US involvement in it, that we were anything other than entirely supportive of Turkish democracy, are completely false, unequivocally false," Obama said at the White House during a joint news conference with Mexico's President.

Obama faces a delicate balance in his response to the attempted overthrow of Erdogan's government. Friday marked Obama's first public comments on the coup attempt, which fizzled at the end of last week. He phoned Erdogan on Tuesday as the Turkish government began a crackdown on suspected coup plotters.

Obama called for government restraint, but his remarks were carefully calibrated. He said it was hard for Americans to understand how fearful Turkish citizens were in the aftermath of the coup attempt.

"We can't discount how scary and shaken not just the Turkish government is, but Turkish society is," he said. "Imagine if you had some group of military officials here in the United States who started flying off with F-16s or other artillery and were taking shots at government buildings, and people were killed and injured. People would be scared and rightfully so."

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