Turkish President Erdogan’s Bodyguards Beat Up US Protesters—Again

On Thursday, President  Donald Trump showered praise upon the increasingly autocratic Turkish  President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. “It’s a great honor and  privilege—because he’s become a friend of mine—to introduce President  Erdogan of Turkey,” Trump told reporters at a bilateral meeting in New  York, where both leaders have been this week for the UN General  Assembly. “He’s running a very difficult part of the world. He’s  involved very, very strongly and, frankly, he’s getting very high  marks.”  Just hours later, Erdoğan’s bodyguards were captured on camera brutally  beating up U.S. protesters inside the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times  Square, where Erdoğan was giving a “special address” to a reception in  his honor.  Today’s skirmish marks the second time this year that the Turkish  president’s bodyguards have gotten physical on US soil. The last time  this happened was at a May demonstration outside the Turkish embassy in  Washington, D.C. Nine people were injured, and in August, a Washington,  D.C., grand jury returned indictments against 15 Turkish security  officials and four others. The indictment states that Erdoğan’s security  detail and his supporters “used threats and physical violence—intensely  kicking at protesters—to dispel the anti-Erdoğan protesters, attack the  anti-Erdoğan protesters, and blatantly ignore American law enforcement  commands to cease the violence.” As Politico notes, the White House  never addressed the incident.   Since the failed coup in Turkey last July, Erdoğan has been busy  silencing dissenters in his home country through intimidation, firings,  force, and jail time. Approximately 40,000 teachers have been purged,  130,000 people suspected of being dissenters have been fired in the  private and public sectors, and 120 journalists have been jailed, as  have more than a dozen opposition lawmakers.

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