PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo's parliament has called the country's president into a hearing on the secret deportation of six Turkish men who Turkey claims were supporters of an alleged 2016 coup attempt.

President Hashim Thaci on Friday questioned the credibility of the parliamentary investigative committee for involving an international expert. He declined to answer questions before clarifying the expert's legality.

In 2018, five Turkish teachers and a Turkish doctor in Kosovo were deported to Turkey. Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj dismissed his interior minister and intelligence chief for making the move without his permission.

Turkey accuses U.S-based cleric Fethullah Gulen of masterminding the 2016 failed coup. He denies the accusations. Those deported from Kosovo worked in schools and clinics supported by Gulen's movement.

The deportations were criticized by rights groups in Kosovo and abroad.