Two people were arrested on Wednesday for their role in the clash: Sinan Narin was arrested in in Virginia on an aggravated assault charge and Eyup Yildirim was arrested in New Jersey on charges of assault with significant bodily injury and aggravated assault. The Turkish embassy has said since the 16 May brawl that the protesters were affiliated with the PKK and had provoked “Turkish American citizens who had peacefully assembled to greet the president”. Police said they would release images of the suspects who they had not been able to identify. “We support them to make sure they are safe.” “We host millions of people who come to the seat of their government to protest peacefully,” Bowser said. The US state department confirmed ambassador Bass attended a meeting at the foreign ministry, but would not provide details on the conversation.Įrdogan appears to watch Turkish security teams clash with protesters – video Guardian “There will be demands for action that may ultimately damage the diplomatic relationship to the point of ambassadors being yanked back – which is unprecedented.” “This makes it much, much worse,” he said.
“Even though there were smiles and so on at the Trump and Erdoğan meeting, the relationship had certainly not gotten back on an even keel,” said Bulent Aliriza, director and senior associate of the Turkey Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.Īliriza said the incident had the potential to further complicate an already troubled relationship. The brawl, which occurred as Erdoğan returned from a meeting with Trump at the White House, has pushed the strained relations further, experts say. The Turkish government considers the YPG a terrorist outfit affiliated with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) and was further angered by Donald Trump’s decision to continue working with the group. Tensions between the two countries have been high since Barack Obama decided to arm the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) as part of the US efforts to fight Islamic State. What type of legislation is this? What type of law?” Erdoğan said. “Why would I take my guards to the United States if not to protect myself?” he said. “That the brawl in front of the Turkish Ambassador’s Residence was caused by the failure of local security authorities to take necessary measures that this incident would not have occurred if the US authorities had taken the usual measures they take in similar high level visits and therefore that Turkish citizens cannot be held responsible for the incident that took place,” the statement said.Įrdoğan echoed these statements in televised remarks on Thursday night. The ministry said in a statement that the ambassador was told the decision to issue arrest warrants was “wrong, biased and lacks legal basis”.
Shortly after the announcement, the US ambassador to Turkey, John Bass, was summoned to the country’s ministry of foreign affairs and told the US’s actions were “unacceptable”. Washington DC’s Metropolitan police chief, Peter Newsham, announced that arrest warrants were being issued for the 12 Turkish nationals, as well as two Americans and two Canadians. The brawl, in which nine protesters were injured, prompted strong reactions in both Turkey and the US, where senior US officials demanded a firm response to the violence.