Without a single dissenting vote, the House of Representatives voted last night to condemn Turkish security forces’ attack on protesters in D.C. last month.
Lawmakers voted 397-0 to back the resolution, which also called “for the perpetrators to be brought to justice and measures to be taken to prevent similar incidents in the future.”
The incident took place on May 16, a few hours after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Donald Trump in the White House. Turkish security forces attacked a group of protesters outside of the ambassador’s residence in Sheridan Circle, with at least nine reported injuries. Video footage showed that Erdogan watched as his bodyguards kicked and punched the demonstrators, many of whom were left bloodied. The Secret Service detained two members of Erdogan’s security detail, but released them without charges.
D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham has vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.
The State Department released a statement in the immediate wake of the incident and is conducting an investigation, but has otherwise been quiet about the incident. A number of lawmakers have called on Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to revoke claims of diplomatic immunity for Erdogan’s bodyguards. Legislators also want the State Department to put the breaks on a deal that would greenlight the sale of $1.2 million worth of semiautomatic handguns to the agency that protects the Turkish president.
Ankara, meanwhile, has accused the U.S. of inadequate security and said that the protesters were the aggressors.
In an unusual show of bipartisanship, U.S. lawmakers aren’t having it.
House Speaker Paul Ryan pinned the blame squarely on the Turkish government, calling the resolution “an unequivocal message that violence against peaceful demonstrators will not be tolerated.”
“This resolution was introduced by top Republican and Democratic leaders at a time when there is little bipartisan agreement on anything else,” Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton said. “There can be no disagreement on the free speech right to protest, however.
Rachel Sadon