The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has refused to allow ads prepared by the US branch of the Independent Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (MÜSİAD) about a failed coup attempt in Turkey last July to appear in Metro stations for being “too political.”
MÜSİAD US branch head Mustafa Tuncer described the move as an “embargo” on efforts to inform people about the coup attempt, saying that it will not deter them from telling about the struggle in Turkey to protect democracy.
Relations between the US and Turkey became strained when demonstrators protesting the policies of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who was visiting Washington in May for a White House meeting with Donald Trump, were countered by agitated supporters of the Turkish head of state and subsequently attacked by his bodyguards.
The violent confrontation sparked an outcry from members of the US Congress and the passage of a resolution demanding that the perpetrators be brought to justice.
Arrest warrants were issued for 12 members of Erdoğan’s security detail and announced by Washington Metropolitan Police Chief Peter Newsham on June 15.
The military coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016 killed over 240 people. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) government along with Erdoğan accused the faith-based Gülen movement for orchestrating the coup attempt, a claim the movement denies.