Erdogan's security forces attack protesters in DC

Investigators were paying particular attention to two members of the Turkish security detail who assaulted American Diplomatic Security officers assigned to protect the visiting delegation.

The men were briefly detained on the scene Tuesday and their guns confiscated. But when it was determined that they held diplomatic status, they were promptly released, according to a congressional aide briefed on the State Department’s investigation. By the time video of what had happened outside the ambassador’s residence shot across the internet Tuesday night, stoking outrage in the United States, the two men were on their way out of the country with Mr. Erdogan and the rest of his entourage.

The two men remain the subject of an active criminal investigation and will not be allowed to re-enter the United States, the aide said.

Gosh, where are the ST trolls leaping to the defence of a fellow thug life traveller of trump?

This has to do with trump deciding to arm the Kurdish forces in northern Syria who are battling Isis. Much to turkeys dismay.

This quagmire of supporting various forces in Syria who spend more time fighting each other rather than Isis or the Syrian military has its roots deep in the Obama admin

What's tragic is the plight of the Syrian people caught in the middle of this proxy war

"Defeating isis" is just propaganda. Obama showed little interest and neither has trump. There is too much money to be made off of chaos and death

with allies like Turkey, who needs allies?

Four international law experts, three of them former legal advisers at the State Department, tell U.S. News that if police identify the assailants, they may be able to make criminal charges stick, even if the men are on the Turkish government payroll....

...Georgetown University law professor David Stewart, a former assistant legal adviser for diplomatic law and litigation in the State Department, also could imagine charges against Erdogan guards under certain circumstances.

“You don’t get immunity just because you claim it. You don’t get immunity just because you say, ‘I’m with the big guy.’ You don’t get immunity just because you say, ‘My passport says I’m important, I have a diplomatic passport,'” he says.

“You get immunity if you are accepted by the government in a certain status that entitles you to that immunity," he says, "and that’s typically a question of law – for example, under the Vienna Convention or our notion of international law.”

Stewart says “this isn’t just a question of abstract principles,” but rather a highly fact-specific question of law.

“The government is now trying to figure out, I’m sure, 'What are the factual circumstances here? Who gets what immunity?'” he says. “I can only imagine they’ve been doing it all day.”

Stewart agrees with Weiner that embassy staff likely are immune from prosecution if they have diplomatic accreditation with the State Department. But he says “it is possible” members of Erdogan’s traveling entourage would have customary immunity if their names were provided in advance to the State Department.

“Of course, you can imagine charges being filed,” Stewart says. “If these guys busted through the police line and beat up protesters, that’s a criminal offense. That’s an assault.”

“I would go so far as to say I would expect charges to be brought,” he adds. “Charges can be brought. The prosecutor would say, ‘We’re bringing these charges.’ The answer would be these guys are immune or they are not immune.”

The prosecutor would say, ‘We’re bringing these charges.

Turkish diplomats have criticized the local police for failing to quell an “unpermitted” and “provocative” demonstration.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry’s statement on Monday went even further, criticizing “the inability of U.S. authorities to take sufficient precautions at every stage of the official program.” And it demanded that the United States conduct a “full investigation of this diplomatic incident and provide the necessary explanation.”

An additional fourteen individuals have outstanding warrants for their arrests and are identified below.

• Turgut Akar, a Turkish security official, charged with misdemeanor Assault or Threatened Assault in a Menacing Manner
• Ismail Dalkiran, a Turkish security official, charged with misdemeanor Assault or Threatened Assault in a Menacing Manner
• Servet Erkan, a Turkish security official, charged with felony Assault with Significant Bodily Injury and misdemeanor Assault or Threatened Assault in a Menacing Manner
• Tugay Erkan, a Turkish security official, charged with felony Assault with Significant Bodily Injury and misdemeanor Assault or Threatened Assault in a Menacing Manner
• Ahmet Karabay, a Turkish security official, charged with misdemeanor Assault or Threatened Assault in a Menacing Manner
• Feride Kayasan, a Turkish security official, charged with misdemeanor Assault or Threatened Assault in a Menacing Manner
• Lutfu Kutluca, a Turkish security official, charged with misdemeanor Assault or Threatened Assault in a Menacing Manner
• Mustafa Murat Sumercan, a Turkish security official, charged with felony Assault with Significant Bodily Injury and misdemeanor Assault or Threatened Assault in a Menacing Manner
• Gokhan Yildirim, a Turkish security official, charged with felony Assault with Significant Bodily Injury
• Ismail Ergunduz, a Turkish security official, charged with felony Assault with Significant Bodily Injury and misdemeanor Assault or Threatened Assault in a Menacing Manner
• Mehmet Sarman, a Turkish security official, charged with felony Aggravated Assault and misdemeanor Assault or Threatened Assault in a Menacing Manner
• Hamza Yurteri, a Turkish security official, charged with felony Aggravated Assault and misdemeanor Assault or Threatened Assault in a Menacing Manner
• Mahmut Sami Ellialti, charged with felony Aggravated Assault and felony Assault with Significant Bodily Injury
• Ahmet Cengizham Dereci, charged with felony Assault with Significant Bodily Injury and misdemeanor Assault or Threatened Assault in a Menacing Manner