Human Rights

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Assaults by Turkish Security Nearly Caused Cancellation of Erdogan’s DC Speech

by TheTower.org Staff |

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s speech at a prominent Washington think tank was nearly canceled on Thursday after his security personnel assaulted journalists and protesters, Foreign Policy reported on Friday.

Strobe Talbott, president of the Brookings Institution, told an unidentified Turkish official that he was prepared to call off the heavily-publicized event on account of the security detail’s violence, even though Erdogan’s motorcade was already en route to Brookings. The official then intervened with Erdogan’s personnel and calmed the situation, preventing a last-minute cancellation that would have been embarrassing to both Brookings and Turkey. However, altercations resumed as soon as Erdogan left.

According to Foreign Policy, the chaos began when Erdogan’s guards forcibly removed a Turkish journalist from the building about an hour before the Turkish leader’s speech. A Western reporter attempting to film the scene was assaulted as well, while other Turkish personnel grabbed a female journalist and threw her to the ground.

Erdogan’s security detail also got into an altercation with a Brookings employee. Some of the Turkish guards warned a Foreign Policy reporter and others not to record the scene, even though it was unfolding on a public sidewalk, and chased one cameraman before a D.C.  policeman intervened.

Turkish security personnel also objected to the protesters who had gathered in anticipation of Erdogan’s arrival:

Some of the small group of protesters who had gathered across from Brookings — and were chanting that Erdogan was a “baby killer” — also seemed to be spoiling for a fight. At one point, several of the protesters flipped over their signs so they would function as sticks and started to make their way towards the Turkish guards. Washington police officers blocked traffic and physically separated the two sides.

Later, a police officer angrily confronted several Turkish security guards in the middle of the street, telling them, “you’re part of the problem, you guys need to control yourselves and let these people protest.” Another Turkish security official pulled his colleague away after he began arguing with the officer. Other members of Erdogan’s team stood in front of the Brookings building, motioning for the protesters to come closer, and making obscene gestures.

Police set up emergency vehicles as a buffer to keep Erdogan separate from the protesters when he arrived.

The violence preceding Erdogan’s speech once again focused attention on his own record of restricting press freedoms in Turkey.

During his speech, Erdogan claimed that most of the 52 journalists detained in Turkey were imprisoned not for journalism, but over terrorism charges. This is contested by press rights groups, who say that Ankara uses the charges as a pretext to clamp down on journalists. Erdogan has also filed charges against a record 1,845 people for insulting him since he was elected president in 2014, “resulting in a more than a dozen sentences,” according to activists cited by Reuters. Insulting the president carries a maximum four year prison term.

Following the talk, Brookings posted the following statement on its website:

Brookings is committed to freedom of expression and to the vital role of a robust free press in a democratic society. These principles are fundamental to the mission of the Brookings Institution and we oppose any effort to silence or harass members of the media. Our staff and security personnel worked hard to provide an open and safe environment for the Washington policy-making community to hear the address by President Erdogan. Amid protests and counter-protests, Brookings did its best to ensure that journalists and other guests who had registered in advance for the event were able to enter. Despite harassment on the part of Turkish security personnel, we believe that all journalists who were registered for the event were able to attend.

Brookings did not directly address the Foreign Policy report that a journalist had been removed prior to the talk, though it is possible that the journalist who had been removed was not registered.

“Turkey’s leader and his security team are guests in the United States,” said Thomas Burr, president of the National Press Club, in a statement released after Erdogan’s speech. “They have no right to lay their hands on reporters or protesters or anyone else for that matter, when the people they were apparently roughing up seemed to be merely doing their jobs or exercising the rights they have in this country.”

“We have increasingly seen disrespect for basic human rights and press freedom in Turkey,” Burr added. “Erdogan doesn’t get to export such abuse.”

[Photo: wochit News / YouTube ]

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