US Foreign Affairs Committee condemns activities of Erdogan’s security detail

The US House Foreign Affairs Committee has unanimously adopted H.Res.354, introduced by Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) and Ranking Democrat Eliot Engel (D-NY), condemning the May 16th attacks on peaceful protesters by Turkish President Erdogan’s bodyguards, calling for the perpetrators to be brought to justice and measures to be taken to prevent similar incidents in the future.

ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian noted that the unanimous adoption of the resolution by the Foreign Affairs Committee is a erce condemnation of the attempt of exportation of Erdogan’s brand of brutality to the USA.

“The Congress and President Trump’s administration should issue a rough condemnation over the incident,” Hamparian said. “After hours of peaceful protest, violence erupted when pro-Erdogan supporters and individuals from the Turkish Embassy grounds pushed past District of Columbia police ofcers to brutally attack the demonstrators; Whereas those Turkish ofcials blatantly suppressed the First Amendment rights of United States citizens, and multiple armed Turkish security ofcials beat, kicked, and choked unarmed demonstrators,” reads the resolution.

Besides, the resolution also states that “multiple video recordings of the violence and reports by the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia and the Department of State conrm that the demonstrators did not instigate the violence,” which is the second violence committed in the USA by Erdogan’s security detail. The resolution urges that “any Turkish security ofcials who directed, oversaw, or participated in efforts by Turkish security forces to illegally suppress peaceful protests on May 16, 2017, should be charged and prosecuted under United States law,” adding that “the United States’ respect for free speech requires ofcials of the United States to speak out against such incidents and the United States should take steps to strengthen freedoms for the press and civil society in countries such as Turkey, and combat efforts by foreign leaders to suppress free and peaceful protest in their own countries.”

Some dozens of congressmen have signed a bipartisan letter addressed to the US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, urging him to publicly condemn those actions and what is more important, to ensure that those people stand fully accountable for their actions.