-Tayyip Erdogan lashes out at US, calls it uncivilised country
Shares
ANKARA - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he cannot describe the United States as a civilized country after American officials issued arrest warrants in absentia for more than a dozen of his security guards over a brawl outside the Turkish Embassy in Washington back in May.
“If arrest warrants are issued for my 13 bodyguards in a country where I went upon invitation, I'm sorry, but I cannot say that country is civilized,” Erdogan said at the Civilizations Forum at Ibn Haldun University in Istanbul on Saturday.
On June 15, a US grand jury indicted 19 people, including 15 Turkish security officials, in connection with the clash between protesters and Erdogan's security personnel in Washington. Sixteen people sustained injuries in the brawl.
Turkish officials said at the time that members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and those affiliated to a movement led by Pennsylvania-based opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen were united in the protest against Erdogan.
The Ankara government accuses Gulen of having masterminded the July 2016 coup attempt.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry stated then that the failure by US authorities to effectively take precautions was the main cause of the incident.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Erdogan also criticized US President Donald Trump's policy regarding Muslims, saying Turkey never closed its doors to people who thought differently.
“Muslims in America are facing expulsion so it means there is a problem in the country,” he said.
