US expresses concern over Erdogan guards’ attack on protesters

Agence France-Presse

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US expresses concern over Erdogan guards’ attack on protesters
Turkish bodyguards of visiting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan push past a Washington police cordon outside the Turkish ambassador's residence and set about the protesters with their fists and feet

WASHINGTON DC, USA – The United States on Wednesday, May 17, expressed concern to Turkey in the “strongest possible terms” after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s bodyguards clashed with protesters in Washington.

“Violence is never an appropriate response to free speech, and we support the rights of people everywhere to free expression and peaceful protest,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.

Erdogan was in the US capital on Tuesday for apparently successful talks with President Donald Trump but his visit was marred by violence between his security detail and pro-Kurdish protesters. (READ: Trump, Erdogan vow friendship despite anger at US arming Kurds)

Witnesses told Agence France-Presse that Turkish bodyguards pushed past a Washington police cordon outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence and set about the protesters with their fists and feet.

A police spokesman described the assault as a “brutal attack on a peaceful protest” and said investigators were studying video evidence and would seek to identify and question the suspects.

Two suspects – not from Erdogan’s detail – were arrested at the scene and 11 people were hurt, 9 of them badly enough to receive hospital treatment.

“We are concerned by the violent incidents involving protesters and Turkish security personnel Tuesdayevening,” Nauert said.

“We are communicating our concern to the Turkish government in the strongest possible terms.”

Video footage uploaded to social media shows a group of men in suits punching and kicking the protesters, including a prone woman, as police struggle to contain the clash.  

“Yesterday afternoon we witnessed what appeared to be a brutal attack on peaceful protesters outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence,” a police spokesman said. 

“The actions seen outside the Turkish Embassy in Washington DC stand in contract to the First Amendment rights and principles we work tirelessly to protect every single day,” a police statement said. 

The First Amendment to the US Constitution protects the right of free expression.

The Metropolitan Police Department identified the people arrested for assault as US residents, 49-year-old Ayten Necmi of New York and 42-year-old Jalal Kheirabadi of Virginia.

Social media posts by the two suspects suggest that Necmi is a supporter of Erdogan who came to Washington to celebrate his visit whereas Kheirabadi is a supporter of Kurdish causes.

But the police said they are also working with the US State Department and Secret Service “to identify and hold all suspects” – suggesting that they are seeking to interview Erdogan’s security detail.

The incident was very similar to another in Washington last year when Erdogan’s guards roughed up Kurdish protesters outside the Brookings Institution think tank just before the president arrived to speak. – Rappler.com

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