President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s security guards on Tuesday attacked a group of people who had gathered outside the Turkish Embassy in the US capital to protest his policies back home.
Erdoğan met with US President Donald Trump in a scheduled gathering on Tuesday. During his visit to the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C., after the meeting, his supporters clashed with another group who had gathered outside the embassy building to protest Erdoğan’s policies in Turkey.
The protesters held banners that read “Freedom to Demirtaş!” in reference to Selahattin Demirtaş, the leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), who has been under arrest on terrorism charges since Nov. 4, 2016.
Police intervened in the fighting between the two groups, while a video recording posted on social media the same day revealed that Erdoğan’s guards were also involved, physically attacking the protesters.
Nine people were injured, with at least one of them in serious condition, according to US media outlets.