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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday August 30 2017, @09:26PM   Printer-friendly
from the conflict-among-turks dept.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/29/politics/turkish-embassy-indictments/index.html

A DC grand jury returned indictments against 15 Turkish security officials and four other individuals Tuesday on charges of attacking protesters during an incident outside the Turkish ambassador's residence on May 16, 2017. The violence took place during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to the US.

CNN previously reported that nine people were injured in the melee, though witness and Turkish authorities have offered conflicting accounts of who was involved and who was to blame. All defendants were also indicted with "bias crime enhancements" -- referring to hate crimes -- to the charges.

The Turkish embassy says the protesters were affiliated with the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party), which is a designated terror group in Turkey, the US and Europe, and has been engaged in a 30-year conflict with the Turkish government. Turkey alleges the protesters "began aggressively provoking Turkish-American citizens who had peacefully assembled to greet the President." In June, DC Police Chief Peter Newsham said that "there's no indication at all that the protesters were a terrorist group."

Also at Reuters and The Hill.

Previously: Violence at Turkish Embassy in Washington
Erdogan Decries 'Unacceptable' US Arrest Warrants for Staff in Washington Brawl


Original Submission

Related Stories

Erdogan Decries 'Unacceptable' US Arrest Warrants for Staff in Washington Brawl 28 comments

Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has furiously condemned the US decision to issue arrest warrants to 12 members of his security detail because of their involvement in a bloody brawl with peaceful protesters in Washington DC last month.

In a dramatic escalation of tensions between two Nato allies, Erdoğan said on Thursday that his government would "fight politically and judicially" against the warrants that had been issued earlier in the day.

[...] The ministry said in a statement that the ambassador was told the decision to issue arrest warrants was "wrong, biased and lacks legal basis".

"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.

Erdoğan echoed these statements in televised remarks on Thursday night. "Why would I take my guards to the United States if not to protect myself?" he said.

[...] US senator John McCain called for Turkey's ambassador to the US to be removed from the country because of the fight and to charge those involved with the incident.

"After all, they violated American laws in the United States of America, so you cannot have that happen in the United States of America," McCain told MSNBC last month. "People have the right in our country to peacefully demonstrate and they were peacefully demonstrating."

The House committee on foreign affairs echoed the senators' call in a letter to secretary of state, Rex Tillerson. "Alarmingly, this behavior is indicative of the broad crackdowns on political activists, journalists and religious freedom in Turkey that have greatly harmed Turkish democracy in recent years," the letter said.

Source: The Guardian

In 2011 an incident happened at the UN, Ban-Ki Moon apologized to Turkey for a "misunderstanding" which left UN security officers injured.


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Grishnakh on Wednesday August 30 2017, @09:30PM (16 children)

    by Grishnakh (2831) on Wednesday August 30 2017, @09:30PM (#561743)

    Trump will probably pardon them. He doesn't want to upset his good buddy Erdogan.

    • (Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 30 2017, @09:39PM (14 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 30 2017, @09:39PM (#561757)

      The present can only pardon criminal against the United States. Can't pardon crimes against persons.

      • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 30 2017, @09:41PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 30 2017, @09:41PM (#561759)

        Sorry, I accidentally a word. "criminal acts"

        • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 30 2017, @09:45PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 30 2017, @09:45PM (#561763)

          And present == president
          I also a word for correct complete

      • (Score: 3, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday August 30 2017, @10:52PM (11 children)

        by DeathMonkey (1380) on Wednesday August 30 2017, @10:52PM (#561798) Journal

        The present can only pardon criminal against the United States. Can't pardon crimes against persons.

        That's not true. [pbs.org]

        Other than impeachment, the president can pardon any violation of a federal law.

        • (Score: 3, Funny) by realDonaldTrump on Wednesday August 30 2017, @11:06PM (7 children)

          by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Wednesday August 30 2017, @11:06PM (#561810) Homepage Journal

          All agree the U. S. President has the COMPLETE power to pardon. Only crime so far is leaks against us. We were very honored by President Erdogan's visit. Turkey is a bastion in the fight against terrorism. 🇺🇸

          • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday August 31 2017, @12:17AM (5 children)

            by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 31 2017, @12:17AM (#561866) Journal

            Turkey IS the terroristic, genocidal state. The current government won't even admit to the fact that it's predecessors committed genocide against multiple groups of people. Why not? Simple - it reserves the "right" to genocide the Kurds, if, when, and as it feels like. And, when the Kurds are history, Turkey will be looking for a new target.

            The ONLY reason Turkey gets away with it's moronic crap, is because it is a NATO ally.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 31 2017, @07:31AM

              by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 31 2017, @07:31AM (#562004)

              Of course. If you look at history, Turkey is actually the northern part of the old Caliphate, with ISIS being the southern part.

              With the power grab that Erdogan did recently, there can be no doubt that both parts want to bring back the Caliphate, the only thing that he and ISIS disagrees about is who gets to be Caliph.

            • (Score: 4, Funny) by JoeMerchant on Thursday August 31 2017, @01:02PM

              by JoeMerchant (3937) on Thursday August 31 2017, @01:02PM (#562095)

              The ONLY reason Turkey gets away with it's moronic crap, is because

              Location, location, location.

              --
              🌻🌻 [google.com]
            • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Thexalon on Thursday August 31 2017, @01:48PM (2 children)

              by Thexalon (636) on Thursday August 31 2017, @01:48PM (#562115)

              The ONLY reason Turkey gets away with it's moronic crap, is because it is a NATO ally.

              No, it's because the USA regularly turns a blind eye to authoritarian governments that massacre their own people. For example, when the people of Bahrain tried to do what the Tunisians and Egyptians had done in overthrowing their oppressive governments, the Bahraini government sent in the police to kill, arrest and torture everybody involved, and this didn't even raise an eyebrow in the USA. And then there's what the USA did about Sudan's government basically killing everybody they could get their hands on in Darfur: absolutely nothing. And Dubai enslaves thousands and routinely tortures people as well, with again not the slightest bit of complaint from the USA.

              Moral outrages only become problems for the freedom-loving USA if the leader of a country won't sell off their oil and natural gas at a price Western companies like (e.g. Libya, Venezuela, and Iraq) or won't allow pipelines through their territory at a price Western companies like (e.g. Afghanistan, Syria).

              --
              The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
              • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday August 31 2017, @02:10PM (1 child)

                by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 31 2017, @02:10PM (#562122) Journal

                You do realize that the hegemony isn't just "The United States", don't you? It is actually the US/UK/British Commonwealth countries, with a helluva lotta assistance from western Europe. Basically, NATO. If it were JUST the US, things might be pretty crappy, but they wouldn't be what they are. Let's remember who toppled the Ottoman. And, on whose behalf the US ran their coup on Iran.

                • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday August 31 2017, @02:26PM

                  by Thexalon (636) on Thursday August 31 2017, @02:26PM (#562126)

                  Yes, I do realize that the rest of NATO has something to do with that pattern. However, since NATO largely goes the way the US goes, I don't see them as all that separate.

                  Also, other NATO countries don't have presidents publicly admiring and shielding from prosecution people like Henry Kissinger who regularly put forward the idea that war crimes are just fine.

                  --
                  The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
          • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Thursday August 31 2017, @05:07PM

            by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Thursday August 31 2017, @05:07PM (#562190) Homepage Journal

            No, [businessinsider.com] he can only pardon federal criminals, not state or city criminals. That's why Mueller is working with New York's AG.

            --
            mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 30 2017, @11:24PM (2 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 30 2017, @11:24PM (#561821)

          Federal law and state law are two, wholly separate things. Crimes against persons are almost always prosecuted by the state. The president can not override the state in this regard, as his power is only for federal crimes.

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Sulla on Wednesday August 30 2017, @10:09PM

      by Sulla (5173) on Wednesday August 30 2017, @10:09PM (#561778) Journal

      Trump may say that Erdogan is his buddy, but I highly doubt it is reciprocal. We have been doing a lot to provoke him recently, be it our support for the Kurds (and building military bases in their area) or supporting cease fires involving the Russians that go against Erdogan's interest.

      --
      Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by NewNic on Wednesday August 30 2017, @09:53PM (2 children)

    by NewNic (6420) on Wednesday August 30 2017, @09:53PM (#561770) Journal

    "The Turkish security officials left the country before they were charged."

    They should have been charged and arrested before they left the country.

    --
    lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 31 2017, @01:15PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 31 2017, @01:15PM (#562099)

      Actually that is probably exactly the point. "Too bad there is absolutely nothing we can do..."

      As if extradition didn't exist.

      • (Score: 2) by Wootery on Friday September 01 2017, @09:40AM

        by Wootery (2341) on Friday September 01 2017, @09:40AM (#562448)

        It might as well not exist.

        There's no way Turkey is going to ship these guys over to be arrested, and the accused aren't going to care that they can't return to the US.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by bob_super on Wednesday August 30 2017, @09:59PM

    by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday August 30 2017, @09:59PM (#561771)

    > Turkey alleges the protesters "began aggressively provoking Turkish-American citizens who had peacefully assembled to greet the President."

    Which in no way, shape, or form, provides legal grounds for foreign bodyguards to commit assaults. The US cops are pretty picky about their privileges.

  • (Score: 1, Redundant) by DonkeyChan on Thursday August 31 2017, @02:04AM

    by DonkeyChan (5551) on Thursday August 31 2017, @02:04AM (#561915)

    You know, before they left the country.
    ...

  • (Score: 2) by boxfetish on Thursday August 31 2017, @02:56AM (1 child)

    by boxfetish (4831) on Thursday August 31 2017, @02:56AM (#561936)

    Maximum possible sentences for all of them.

    • (Score: 2) by Wootery on Friday September 01 2017, @09:43AM

      by Wootery (2341) on Friday September 01 2017, @09:43AM (#562449)

      This whole thing is just 'sending a message'.

      These assholes already left the country. (Something the article oddly leaves until the very end.) The odds of them facing real consequences for their violent actions are roughly 0%.

  • (Score: 2) by Open4D on Friday September 01 2017, @05:16PM

    by Open4D (371) on Friday September 01 2017, @05:16PM (#562601) Journal

    This tweet has a video of the incident, which could be interpreted as Erdogan instructing his goons to attack the protesters: https://twitter.com/TurkeyUntold/status/865304412499173376 [twitter.com]

    And if you want to know what's in store for the region, here's another video: https://twitter.com/abdbozkurt/status/868911556003803136 [twitter.com] The person that tweeted it describes it as follows "Erdogan says Turkey's borders are not confined to current 780K km2 territory, tells his followers to be not content with what was given."

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