Ahead of the G-20 summit to be held in Hamburg next week where Turkey will be present, Germany has warned Turkey that members of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s security detail who were involved in a bloody melee in Washington last month “are not welcome in Germany.” The reason for the snub – which won’t go over too well with Erdogan – is that last month numerous Turkish security officials, including several of Erdogan’s personal guards, brawled with protesters outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence in Washington, landing 9 protesters in the hospital.
Quoted by CNN, Martin Schafer, a spokesperson for the German Foreign Ministry, said Monday: “Some foreign security services of the Turkish delegation did not abide by the law and therefore those people are not welcome in Germany for the foreseeable future.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEJcuV0S-xs
Die Welt adds that the German Foreign Ministry received a list of 50 people who were to accompany Erdogan to the G20 summit, some of whom were involved in the incident in Washington, and responded that the Ministry told Turkey not to bring those bodyguards to the summit. While Schafer refused to confirm or deny the report, he made it clear that everyone attending the summit must respect German law. “The Turkish side just like all other guests who travel to Germany must abide by German law,” he said. “This is what our Turkish partners also know.”
As a reminder, the bloody brawl took place on May 16 after the first official meeting between Erdogan and President Trump at the White House. Nine people ended up in hospital when Turkish security officials, including Erdogan’s personal bodyguards, got into a fight with demonstrators outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence in Washington. Video showed Erdogan looking on as Turkish guards beat up protesters, before heading into the ambassador’s home.
Quoted by CNN, a senior State Department official said at the time that the Turkish officials involved in the fight appeared to be a mix of Turkish embassy staff and Erdogan’s personal guards. The official also confirmed that two members of Erdogan’s detail “were briefly detained during the altercations and subsequently released” and returned to Turkey with Erdogan.
One month later, Washington police issued warrants for 12 of Erdogan’s security officers in mid-June however Erdogan denied his security detail had done anything wrong and questioned the legality of the warrant.
