A group of Turkish citizens staged a protest against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in New York where he came to attend the United Nations General 
Assembly, leading to a confrontation between Erdoğan’s guards and New York City police.
According to the private Cihan news agency, Erdoğan was met by protests in front of the hotel where he went to attend a dinner. Protesters chanted slogans saying “Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is a thief,” “You exploit religion, make big haul,” “This is only the beginning, continue the fight!” Some protesters wore T-shirts that read “There is a thief [around us]!”
A quarrel broke out between demonstrators waving Turkish flags and shouting anti-Erdoğan slogans and Erdoğan’s guards during the protest. President Erdoğan’s nephew and bodyguard Ali Erdoğan reportedly attacked the protesters, and then a scuffle broke out between police officers and Erdoğan’s guards. The New York City police reportedly attempted to take a guard into custody.
President Erdoğan entered the hotel through a back door due to the protest. While the anti-Erdoğan protest was taking place in New York, some Erdoğan supporters also chanted slogans in favor of him. Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekçi, former European Union Affairs Minister Egemen Bağış and current EU Minister Volkan Bozkır, who were accompanying Erdoğan, were also heckled. Erdoğan left the hotel by a back door due to the ongoing protest and headed to the airport to return to Turkey.
Erdoğan arrived in New York on Sept. 21 to attend the UN General Assembly. He had a number of meetings with foreign leaders and delivered a fiery speech in the UN General Assembly, slamming the UN for its lack of action against the Syrian civil war and Gaza offensive. During his trip he announced for the first time that Turkey’s role in the US-led anti-Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) could include military support.