Letter from US senators to Turkey’s Erdoğan over violent attack of his bodyguards on protestors

As announced on website of the US Senate on Thursday (May 18), Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) sent a letter to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ‘calling on him to hold accountable members of the Turkish security detail who attacked peaceful protestors outside the Ambassador’s resident in Washington.’

In their letter, the senators said: “The violent response of your security detail to peaceful protestors is wholly unacceptable and, unfortunately, reflective of your government’s treatment of the press, ethnic minority groups and political opponents.”

The letter of the senators followed as below:

Dear President Erdoğan:

We write today to express our grave concern with the behavior of some members of your security detail outside of the Turkish Ambassador’s residence in Washington, D.C. The violent response of your security detail to peaceful protestors is wholly unacceptable and, unfortunately, reflective of your government’s treatment of the press, ethnic minority groups and political opponents.

On May 16, 2017, members of your security detail allegedly broke through police lines and violently attacked a small number of protestors outside of Ambassador Kılıç’s residence, wounding at least nine people. Yesterday’s attack, however, was not an isolated incident. Last year some of your supporters and members of your security detail violently clashed with protestors and members of the media at the Brookings Institution.

The actions of your staff violate the constitutional protections of freedom of the press and freedom of assembly enjoyed by all Americans. Your staff’s blatant violation of these rights on American soil is an affront to those freedoms, and reflects poorly on your government. We have long supported Turkey as a member of NATO, and a key U.S. ally in the region, and we expect conduct more appropriate to our decade’s long partnership.

We cannot turn a blind eye to these actions at home, and we urge you to hold accountable those members of your staff who violently attacked peaceful protestors in our nation’s capital.

Sincerely,

Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator
John McCain
United States Senator

Source: https://www.birgun.net/haber-detay/abd-senatosu-ndan-cumhurbaskani-erdogan-a-mektup-160274.html