The State Department summoned Turkish Ambassador Serdar Kilic following violence between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s guards and protesters in Washington, D.C., this week.
“We can confirm that Ambassador Kilic was summoned to the State Department and met with Under Secretary [of State Thomas] Shannon on Wednesday,” a State official told NBC News Thursday.
State also confirmed that two members of the Turkish security team were detained after Tuesday’s incident, and then released. Global law protects heads of state and their entourage from arrest.
A video emerged Thursday of Erdogan watching members of his security detail violently clash with protesters in D.C.
The clip shows Erdogan emerging from a car to watch the melee before heading inside the Turkish ambassador’s residence. Turkish security is visible from Erdogan’s vehicle brawling with protesters.
The Turkish Embassy in Washington claimed Wednesday that Erdogan’s bodyguards were acting in “self-defense.”
Metropolitan Police Chief Peter Newsham called Tuesday’s attack on Washington’s Embassy Row “brutal.”
“That’s something we will not tolerate her in Washington, D.C,” he said. “This is a city where people should be allowed to come and peacefully protest.”
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State Dept summons Turkish ambassador over bloody D.C. brawl https://t.co/Md9uODk0EB pic.twitter.com/rJVqVHlph4
— The Hill (@thehill) May 19, 2017
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