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Serbia, Turkey, And Russia—Alarm Bells For Europe

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By Alon Ben-Meir and Arbana Xharra

As the EU seeks to increase its influence in the Balkans, Russia and Turkey have been working hard to strengthen their own ties to the region. The EU’s renewed interest in its southern backyard has been prompted by fears of Moscow’s mounting impact in the Balkans. Although Russia’s closest European ally is Serbia, it is not the only country with a long history in the Balkans. Turkey is another heavyweight, gaining huge support from corrupted officials throughout the Balkans. Like Russia, Turkey is investing in major national projects strategically calculated to have the greatest economic and political impact on the financial market.

To demonstrate his commitment to Serbia, in a joint news conference held on May 7 in Ankara with Serbia’s president Aleksandar Vucic, Erdogan said that the target for 2018 is $2 billion, going to $5 billion in the long term. Among the biggest projects, the Belgrade-Sarajevo highway will strengthen regional and economic ties. Vucic thanked Erdogan for ‘stabilizing’ the Balkans, declaring that “Turkey is the biggest power, the strongest country in the Balkans.”

On May 17, during the EU-Western Balkans Summit held in Bulgaria, European leaders expressed their concern over Turkey’s and Russia’s expanding influence in the Balkans, particularly since the Balkans were once part of the Ottoman Empire, and subsequently under the Soviet Union. Erdogan has made his unscrupulous position clear to Western powers, stressing that Turkey will become as powerful and influential as the Ottoman Empire was during its heyday.

Russia considers Serbia its most trusted ally in Europe and is investing heavily in large projects, especially in the energy sector. Even though Vucic recognizes that he is receiving substantial support from Putin, he is strengthening his alliance with Turkey as well. While Russia and Turkey are competing for influence in Serbia, they are still collaborating because of their joint opposition to the EU’s continuing and extensive involvement in the Balkans.

Vucic seeks to join the EU and build a trilateral relationship with Russia and Turkey, which directly challenges Western values and interests. Vucic, however, cannot “dance” in two weddings at the same time. His anti-Western alliance triggered alarm bells in the European Union. French President Emmanuel Macron put Ankara and Moscow in the same light, saying that he did not want “a Balkans that turns toward Turkey or Russia.”

The European Union is still Serbia’s largest trading partner; however, Serbia is heavily dependent on Russia for military equipment, which in many ways defines Russian-Serbian relations. There are approximately 1,000 companies in Serbia owned partially or entirely by Russians, with an estimated revenue of 5 billion Euros. In October 2017, Serbia bought six Russian fighter jets.

Surveys show that most Serbs are pro-Russian and regard NATO unfavorably. They remember well that Western powers heavily bombed their country in 1999 during the war with Kosovo. In a visit last year to Belgrade, Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s deputy prime minister, asserted that “Serbia will never join the EU.”

The EU and US are aware that Serbia is still the “black sheep” in the Western Balkans, having Russia watching its back. The EU simply rejects what Russia’s President Putin is doing in Serbia and does not expect Erdogan to change his dictatorial style as long as he and his AK Party are in power, as neither are consistent with the socio-political culture of the West.

In a conversation we had with Veran Matic, founder and director of Belgrade’s Radio and Television station B92, he said that Vucic is certainly interested in establishing good relations between Serbia and Russia. He added that Serbia wants to be connected to the Turkish Stream pipeline (as Serbia depends on Russian gas, but there is no possibility of having it delivered directly to Serbia).

“For Serbia,” Matic said, “investments are greatly significant, but on the other hand, we are concerned about having too good relations with the system that is recognized as a global media freedom impostor, and with a state which imprisoned the largest number of journalists worldwide.”

In discussion with Xhemal Ahmeti, historian and philosopher, he said that the frequent meetings between Iran-Turkey-Russia, followed by activities in the regions where they operate, clearly reveal the contours of their cooperation both in the Middle East and in the Balkans. “These two powers,” he said, “have agreed on their sphere of influence working on their agenda against their common enemy, the United States.”

“The so-called Shiite Semitic doctrine, Putin’s pan-Slavism, and Erdogan’s neo-Ottomans have devised an alliance against the EU’s strategic agenda now operating in the Balkans”, said Ahmeti. Meanwhile, Serbia has managed to have it both ways, looking simultaneously at the East and West.

While recognition of Kosovo’s independence remains the EU’s key condition for Serbia’s membership, Elena Guskova, from the Institute for Balkan Studies in the Russian Academy in Moscow, argues that cooperating with the Russian military is “a guarantee of safety” for many Serbs.

Vucic has sought Moscow’s continued support over Kosovo and has restated his opposition to NATO membership, as he became the first foreign leader to meet Putin since the latter began his latest term as Russia’s president. “Serbia will preserve its independence, Serbia will preserve its military neutrality and Serbia is not planning to become a member of NATO or any other military alliance,” said Vucic during his visit to the Kremlin.

Blerim Latifi, philosophy professor in Pristina University, told us that this ‘alliance’ between Turkey, Russia, and Serbia is a blow to the unity and functionality of NATO, and “any blow to NATO has negative effects on the national security of the Balkans.”

Whereas Putin does not hide his animosity toward the Western alliance and tries to undercut Western interests anywhere he can, Erdogan wants to have it both ways. He wants to maintain Turkey’s membership in NATO and presumably still desires to join the EU, but he is working hard to undermine the EU’s and NATO’s strategic interests in the Balkans by entrenching Turkey in Serbia in particular to serve his insidious scheme.

The European Union should warn Serbia that it must weigh its options carefully and undertake the necessary socio-political and economic reforms if it wants to become a member of the EU. Serbia will certainly have no chance of joining the EU if it maintains open-ended association with either Erdogan or Putin.

To be sure, Serbia must by now realize that the prospect of sustainable democracy, freedom, and economic growth rests on close association with the EU. It should distance itself from ruthless dictators who pretend to be the savior of the Balkans when in fact they are exploiting the region’s vulnerability for their long-term strategic end.

Turkey’s targeting of Ankara human rights statue a ‘reflection of fascism’

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Turkey reflection of fascism

One year ago, Turkish police erected barriers around a monument in Ankara dedicated to human rights. The statue has become a symbol of the country’s state of emergency — and the erosion of human rights it brings.

On one of Ankara’s busiest streets stands a bronze statue of a woman holding a human rights declaration in her hand. Police in the Turkish capital guard the monument around the clock. No one is allowed to approach it, and photos and videos are forbidden. Police say the monument has been barricaded off for security reasons.

The statue was erected in 1990 and people of all political convictions have gathered there ever since. It has been a meeting point for protests and a place to address the media. It was a gathering point for Ankara citizens during Istanbul’s 2013 Gezi Park protests, too.

Things changed after the failed coup on June 15, 2016. Turkey has been under a state of emergency since then, and it was extended for the seventh time in April. Since that failed coup, 228,000 people have been arrested and a further 116,000 dismissed from public service, according to the Turkish Interior Ministry.

‘Reflection of fascism’

Scientist Nuriye Gulmen and grade school teacher Semih Ozakca were among the thousands of people who lost their jobs. They spent months after their sackings sitting beside the Ankara human rights monument, demanding their jobs be reinstated. On May 23, 2017 police cordoned off the bronze figure with a metal barrier and arrested Gulmen and Ozakca.

Lawmakers from Turkey’s largest opposition faction, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), called for their immediate release. Party members sat beside the monument in protest. “Other people joined us, but the police tried to keep them away,” CHP politician Ali Haydar Hakverdi told DW, explaining how the police set up a metal barrier. He described the situation as “utter despotism.”

When people knocked over the barrier, police added two rows of barriers the next day, Hakverdi said.

Daily protests followed, which the police countered with violent force that was documented on social media. Protesters were detained in the morning and let go in the evening. Ankara’s governor declared the barriers a “security measure” stemming from Turkey’s state of emergency.

“As far as I am concerned, the barriers are a reflection of the fascism in our country,” the scientist Gulmen told DW a year after the incident, arguing that the acts of state repression only show the government’s powerlessness. “It doesn’t make sense to ‘detain’ a monument,” she said. “But the message to the people is clear: ‘Look, this is a dangerous place!'”

That’s what the government is trying to convey, Gulmen added.

The teacher Ozakca was released roughly half-a-year after his arrest. Gulmen was charged with membership in a terrorist organization, but also ultimately released. The two went on a 324-day hunger strike after losing their jobs. They ended the strike in January, when Turkey’s State of Emergency Commission rejected their demand that their employment be reinstated. Now they are both protesting again, not far from the Ankara monument.

‘Symbol of the state of emergency’

Turkish sculptor Metin Yurdanur gifted the bronze figure to Ankara’s Cankaya district 28 years ago. Like all of his works, this monument belongs to humankind, he told DW. “I want all of my works to find a place in a peaceful world.”

Hakverdi said the CHP petitioned for the barriers to be removed but it was denied for security reasons, and he doesn’t believe those circumstances are likely to change anytime soon. “The barriers are completely arbitrary, a symbol of the state of emergency,” he argued, adding that the Turkish government wants to make it clear that it will not lift the state of emergency, and will continue to rule the country in that manner.

It is under the cloud of this controversial state of emergency that Turkey is headed for presidential and parliamentary elections on June 24.

After calls to change the Quran, Turkey moves to ban all things French

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Pro-Islamist demonstrators shout slogans during a protest against France near the French Consulate, Istanbul, Turkey, May 9, 2018.

Pinar Tremblay,

It all started April 21, with news of the Manifesto against the New Anti-Semitism. The declaration, written by Philippe Val, former director of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, was signed by more than 250 intellectuals, artists and politicians, including former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The manifesto — which calls on theologians to delete Quranic verses that suggest the killing and punishment of Christians, Jews and non-believers — generated strong reactions among Muslims. Although the text does not explain how, the idea was that the abrogation of these parts of the Quran would lead to “French-style Islam.” Muslims in France and around the world reacted to the request by attempting to explain the verses within their historical contexts and dismissed the idea of removing sections as unacceptable.

Turkish reaction to the declaration came May 6, when Omer Celik, minister of EU affairs and chief negotiator for Turkish accession to the EU, posted a series of tweets in Turkish and in English criticizing the manifesto. He claimed the signatories of the document have an ideological affinity with the Islamic State. Turkish presidency spokesman Ibrahim Kalin posted two tweets, the first explaining the declaration and the second stating his view that the Quran cannot be altered and that if the West wants to solve the problem of anti-Semitism, the West should look at itself because the problem originated in Europe.

One of the strongest reactions came from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. At the May 8 parliamentary meeting of his Justice and Development Party (AKP), Erdogan delivered an angry speech not only against the declaration and its signatories, but also aimed at France and the West generally, calling them “despicable.” To his nonstop cheering fans, the president said:

An impertinent group appeared in France the other day and issued a declaration asking for some verses to be removed from the Quran. It is so obvious that those who say that have no idea what the Quran is, but have they ever read their own book, the Bible? Or the Torah? Or Psalms? If they had read it, they would probably want the Bible to be banned as well. But they never have such a problem. The more we warn Western countries about hostility to Islam, hostility to Turks, xenophobia and racism, the more we get a bad reputation. Hey the West! Look! … The more you attack our holy book, we will not attack yours. But we will knock you down. Who are you to attack our holy scriptures? We know how despicable you are.

Pro-AKP media and commentators promptly joined in, lashing out at France and positioning Erdogan as the protector of Islam. Also, on May 10, the Turkish Council of Higher Education (YOK) announced that 16 new university faculties of French language and literature will not be accepting students. The 19 existing departments will continue with enrollments. News outlets reported that the council justified its decision not simply in response to the manifesto, but also on the basis of reciprocity — that is, the claim that there are no Turkish language and literature studies in France — plus the assertion that the market does not need more graduates from French language departments. The council also announced a ban on establishing additional France language and literature departments.

Frustrated AKP opponents reacted strongly to the council’s action. For example, Sinan Ogan, a former lawmaker from the Nationalist Action Party, tweeted that if Erdogan were actually serious about retaliating against the manifesto as well as French support of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party, he should cancel the agreement he signed with France to buy 25 Airbus planes. Indeed, Erdogan had lashed out at the French government for its support of the Syrian Kurds in March, but then shifted his focus to defending Islam. A sociology professor at a government university told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “Erdogan needs some of the Kurdish vote, so we are witnessing him slowly easing out of ultra-nationalistic rhetoric and into a more Islamist one, struggling to embrace the Kurds.”

Opposition members also pointed to the inaccuracy of the allegation that there are no Turkish language departments in France. In fact, such departments were founded as early as 1795.

A French diplomatic source told Al-Monitor by email, “In Turkey, Francophonie is historically present in education, with a network of around 15 bilingual schools, among them the prestigious Galatasaray High School, whose 150th anniversary is being celebrated this year. Galatasaray University is a Francophone Turkish university and the Institut Français de Turquie, the language and cultural center under the umbrella of the embassy, is active in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir. Turkish language and Turkish studies are also developed in France. Departments exist in such important higher education institutions as the National Institute for Languages and Oriental Civilizations in Paris, University of Lyon, University of Aix-Marseille and University of Strasbourg. The Turkish language is also taught to 17,000 pupils in the French education system through the ELCO program.” ELCO — Enseignements langues et cultures d’origine, or Teaching of Language and Culture of Origin — was founded in the 1970s to educate immigrants in their native tongues alongside their French educations.

On May 14, the Islamist daily Yeni Akit took things a step further, calling for a “ban on French literature, music and cinema” under the headline “YOK’s Slap to France.” Ibrahim Kiras, senior editor of Karar, a newspaper founded by formerly pro-AKP journalists, shared a photo of the headline and asked whether the government employees who made false statements would be held to account given that the allegations about the Turkish language not being taught in France were false.

Despite the efforts by the government and its media supporters, the public did not buy into the outrage over the manifesto. Conversations with Islamists and conservatives pointed to three reasons. First, Turkish citizens have become desensitized to Erdogan’s outbursts. One senior bureaucrat told Al-Monitor, “The manifesto is Islamophobic, but we [the AKP] have failed to punish our own for ridiculing verses from the Quran. How can we throw stones at non-Muslims?”

Second, the public feels that angry and hateful rhetoric against the West does not benefit them. A member of a prominent Muslim nongovernmental organization took Erdogan to task, telling Al-Monitor, “Scolding the West and calling them names have lost their impact when you [still] go visit these countries and keep playing by their systems. There is no proper policy behind Erdogan’s anger. We have not forgot how he distanced himself from the Mavi Marmara [Gaza] flotilla victims by saying, ‘Whom did they ask before they departed?’” The suggestion that what happened to those on the flotilla was their fault galled Turks.

Third, the government’s refusal to accept new students into French language departments coupled with the false assertion of reciprocity were viewed as counterproductive. Almost 2.5 million students are preparing for the University Entrance Exam in Turkey this year. Fewer than 500,000 will be accepted into four-year colleges. Hence, announcing the closure of departments is not the kind of news that will lead to citizens rejoicing. A number of social media postings said the AKP’s response serves only to punish its own people, validating the Turkish saying that “rancid vinegar damages its own barrel.”

Pinar Tremblay is a columnist for Al-Monitor’s Turkey Pulse and a visiting scholar of political science at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Israeli PM’s sun announces that Turkey is responsible for Armenian Genocide

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Benjamin Netanyahu’

YEREVAN, MAY 17, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son Yair Netanyahu has announced that Turkey is responsible for the Armenian Genocide. ARMENPRESS reports, citing the Associated Press agency, Yair Netanyahu made a post about this on his Facebook page.

“Turkey, you are responsible for incredible atrocities and sufferings in Cyprus, actions against Greeks and Kurds, as well as the Armenian Genocide”, Yair Netanyahu wrote, reminding that the Turks have illegally occupied today’s territory of Turkey, which was inhabited with Christians before their invasion.

 

Congress puts US military sales to Turkey in jeopardy

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Congressional frustration with Turkey has reached a boiling point.

After months of deferring to the Donald Trump administration and forgoing punitive measures for fear of worsening an already sour relationship with a NATO ally, lawmakers are taking matters into their own hands.

House legislators last week attached a provision to a must-pass defense bill that would curtail major arms sales to Turkey over its impending purchase of the S-400 Russian missile defense system. Their Senate counterparts are gearing up to attach an even more severe weapons ban to their version of the bill.

And lawmakers aren’t stopping there: Several senators are also pushing to sanction senior Turkish officials in retaliation for Ankara’s monthslong incarceration of an American pastor. Turkish retaliation against Israel for this week’s bloodshed in Gaza, including Ankara’s expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and Turkey’s calls for an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, have further strained relations with the United States.

“What we’re trying to do is to get the attention of [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., told Al-Monitor. Shaheen is using her seats on the Armed Services Committee and on a foreign aid spending panel to push both measures.

 

Turkey in jeopardy

Shaheen’s counterparts on the House Armed Services Committee advanced a defense authorization bill on May 11 that would ban “major defense equipment” sales to Turkey until the Trump administration submits a report detailing the state of US-Turkish military and diplomatic relations within 60 days of the bill becoming law.

“It will slow down anything going to Turkey,” a House staffer told reporters at a briefing before the committee vote. “Members are concerned about the S-400.”

Turkey signed an accord with Russia to buy the advanced missile defense system last December, raising concerns about security and interoperability with US and other NATO weapons among Defense Department officials and members of Congress. Ankara announced last month that it will receive the missiles in July 2019.

Speaking at a press conference earlier this month, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he relayed his concerns about the proposed arms sales ban and sanctions proposals to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

“I am not obliged to approve decisions taken by an individual country,” Cavusoglu told reporters. “Therefore, the US’ attempt to impose sanctions on us is illogical and wrong. I would retaliate.”

Congress passed a sanctions bill last year penalizing foreign countries for “significant transactions” with major Russian defense firms. The State Department lists Almaz-Antey, the Russian firm producing the S-400s, as one of the banned entities that could result in sanctions on buyers such as Turkey.

The House bill notes that the S-400 sale “could negatively impact common weapon system development between the United States and Turkey” and “exacerbate current [NATO] interoperability challenges with respect to common military architecture and information sharing.”

The report required by the House bill must include an assessment of Turkey’s S-400 purchase, including an “assessment of impacts on other United States weapon systems and platforms operated jointly with Turkey.” The weapons systems in question include F-35 and F-16 aircraft, Patriot surface-to-air missile systems and several helicopters. The report also requires the Trump administration to identify alternative missile defense systems that Turkey could purchase from the United States or other NATO allies in lieu of Russian S-400s.

Finally, the House is also asking for an assessment of “all military activities conducted” from Turkey’s NATO air base in Incirlik, which has been an integral part of the US-led air campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The Wall Street Journal reported in March that the Defense Department is considering permanent cuts to its forces at Incirlik.

“I hope that we can reach some accommodation with the Erdogan administration so that that’s not required,” Shaheen told Al-Monitor.

Although she wants the United States to remain at Incirlik, Shaheen is going even further in a bid to permanently ban the sale of F-35s to Turkey unless Ankara meets several conditions. Turkey has placed an order to buy more than 100 F-35 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin, and Turkish media reported last week that the first delivery is expected June 21.

Shaheen teamed up with Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., to introduce the bill. Tillis also sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and they hope to include their legislation as an amendment when the committee debates its version of the annual defense authorization bill next week.

Turkey recalls its ambassadors to US, Israel

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday stated that in connection with the current situation in the Gaza Strip—where numerous Palestinians were killed, Turkey recalls its ambassadors to the United States and Israel, RT news agency of Russia reported citing Anadolu news agency of Turkey.

“In solidarity with our Palestinian brothers in connection with those killed during clashes with Israeli soldiers in Gaza, three-day mourning is declared in Turkey, as of tomorrow,” Erdoğan said.

He added that Ankara will recall its ambassadors to Washington and Tel Aviv for consultations.

 

American Lawyers Sue Turkey For Hundreds of Millions of Dollars

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Harut Sassounian

By Harut Sassounian

Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
 
On May 16, 2017, during Turkish Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit with Pres. Doanld Trump in the White House, Erdogan’s bodyguards, unprovoked viciously attacked Kurdish and Armenian protesters who had gathered outside the residence of Turkey’s Ambassador in Washington, DC. Nine demonstrators were seriously injured!
 
According to the Washingtonian, “at a news conference on June 14, DC police chief Peter Newsham said that ‘rarely have I seen in my 28 years of policing the type of thing I saw in Sheridan Circle.’ The House of Representatives approved a resolution, 397–0, calling ‘for perpetrators to be brought to justice and measures to be taken to prevent similar incidents in the future.’”
 
Last July, a federal grand jury charged with assault 19 members of Erdogan’s bodyguards, most of whom had diplomatic immunity. As a result, they could not be arrested and were allowed to fly back to Turkey. Two Turkish-Americans were arrested and later sentenced to a year and a day in jail. Several months after this incident, the charges against most of Erdogan’s bodyguards were dropped on the eve of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s visit to Turkey.
 
Fortunately, a group of Washington, DC lawyers were so outraged by the attacks and escape of Erdogan’s bodyguards back to Turkey that they decided last week to sue the Turkish government, two Turkish-Americans and three Turkish Canadians for “violations of international law and hate crimes, as well as assault, battery and false imprisonment.” On May 3, another American law firm filed a separate lawsuit by five of the protesters against Turkey.
 
The Washingtonian reported: “With the US government unable or unwilling to obtain justice for the Sheridan Circle victims, a group of DC lawyers set out to do so themselves. Douglas Bregman had little inkling of the riot, let alone what had provoked it. But what he saw on the news that night horrified him: ‘This guy [Erdogan] gets to come to our country, speak to the President at the White House, then send his thugs to bloody up American citizens just for speaking out?’”
 
The Washingtonian added: “Bregman, 68, runs a civil-practice law firm in Bethesda. Originally from suburban Philadelphia, he got a law degree from Georgetown University in the 1970s and put down roots. He lectures there and at Columbia University law school. Having participated in protests during the 1960s, he sees a need to defend freedom of speech from threats ‘like abuse of power,’ he says. Bregman phoned one of his associates, Andreas Akaras, a litigator at Bregman, Berbert, Schwartz and Gilday. ‘Did you see what happened today at Sheridan Circle?’ he asked. Akaras had joined Bregman’s firm after seven years as an aide to Maryland congressman John Sarbanes. He’d worked on a range of issues related to southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean and developed contacts in Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, and Israel. Bregman asked him to investigate whether any legal restitution was available to the victims.”
 
Bregman then contacted fellow longtime DC attorney Steve Perles. “I have this case that will rely on the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act [FSIA],” Bregman said. “You’re the guy who can do it.” Perles has a long experience successfully suing Germany for Holocaust reparations and Iran and Libya to pay for damages for “terrorist acts.”
 
The Washingtonian reported: “working with Bregman and Akaras, Perles is preparing to file suit for hundreds of millions in damages from the Republic of Turkey. ‘Any foreign head of state who unleashes his security force against US citizens exercising their lawful rights on US soil has no protection under FSIA,’ Perles says. Other lawyers agree. A team headed by Agnieszka Fryszman of Cohen Milstein filed a victim-impact statement representing 13 victims of the Sheridan Circle attack, including Murat Yasa and Heewa Arya. The legal team has added Michael Tigar, who successfully sued the government of Chile for assassinating Orlando Letelier with a car bomb at Sheridan Circle in 1976.… Tigar says students at American University law school are putting together the case against Turkey. He’s confident in its strength. ‘It took 16 years, but we got to get $4 million from Chile,’ he says.”
 
Bregman told the Washingtonian: “Somebody needs to be punished. We are willing to put in the time and resources to push back against a fascist government so our clients are vindicated. It is well worth the effort.”
 
The Washington Post concluded: “under U.S. law, the Turkish government may fight, settle or refuse to defend against the lawsuits. In a refusal, a judge could enter a default judgment for the protesters.”





Turkey sued over violence in protests in Washington in 2017

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By Spencer S. Hsu May 10 at 10:21

Twenty people beaten outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence in Washington in 2017 have filed lawsuits against the government of Turkey and five individuals after the bloody assault on demonstrators that drew international condemnation.

In a complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in the District, 15 mostly pro-Kurdish demonstrators, nearly all U.S. citizens and residents, sought unspecified damages for injuries sustained when they said guards for visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan charged their ranks. Five other victims filed suit May 3 seeking more than $100 million in damages from Turkey.

Video of the May 16 melee outside the Sheridan Circle residence showed men in suits and olive-green military-style jackets kicking and bludgeoning protesters, including women carrying young children and men in their 60s. Victims contend they suffered concussions, seizures, neurological damage, lost and broken teeth and post-traumatic stress.

Analysts at the time of the high-profile violence on Washington’s stately Embassy Row called it another provocation in a U.S.-Turkey relationship strained by disputes over the war in Syria, Russia’s role in the Middle East and a conspiracy theory that the United States was behind a 2016 coup attempt in Turkey.

U.S. law generally bars private lawsuits against foreign governments but carves out exceptions, including for cases involving terrorism or wrongful actions by governments, officials or employees in the line of duty that result in injury or death on U.S. soil.

[Nine injured in violent confrontation outside Turkish ambassador’s residence]

A spokesman for the Turkish Embassy in Washington could not immediately be reached for comment.

n the lawsuits, attorneys recite U.S. State Department and human rights groups’ objections to Erdogan’s tilt to authoritarianism, crackdown on dissent, and the Turkish government’s political and military campaign against its Kurdish minority as the basis for their claims of hate crimes, human rights and terrorism violations. The filings also make allegations of assault and battery.

“The attack carried out by Turkish security agents and their sympathizers was a direct and brutal assault not only on our plaintiffs, but on a hallmark of American democracy — the right to peacefully assemble,” said Agnieszka M. Fryszman, co-counsel in the lawsuit filed Thursday and chair of the Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll law firm’s human rights practice.

Fryszman and co-counsel Joshua Colangelo-Bryan of Dorsey & Whitney said that the incident “is shocking and should shock the consciences” of Americans, and that whatever its diplomatic complexities, it poses a straightforward question.

“These are foreign agents trying to suppress a peaceful protest in our country, which makes it a somewhat unusual case, but the underlying conduct” is violent attacks and beatings, Colangelo-Bryan said.

The legal team reviewed 400 hours of surveillance, cellphone and camera videos, but after “about three minutes and 30 seconds of it, you would understand the whole case from start to finish,” showing people carrying children pushed to the ground, kicked and stomped in the head by men with guns and ID badges on lanyards, and a woman on the grass, trembling with seizures, Colangelo-Bryan said.

Murat Yasa, 61, a flooring company owner from Great Falls, Va., was among the protesters and is among the 15 plaintiffs in the larger lawsuit.

Yasa, a U.S. citizen of Kurdish descent who immigrated in about 1987, said he helped lead a protest at the White House and then at the ambassador’s residence on May 16, 2017, before he said he was beaten, kicked repeatedly by a ring of men and left bloodied with a concussion and a missing tooth.

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/lawsuits-filed-against-turkey-over-violence-with-guards-at-2017-dc-protest/2018/05/10/0a9f0b9a-5238-11e8-abd8-265bd07a9859_story.html?utm_term=.ad73777cf612

Greece: Seven new airspace violations by Turkish aircraft

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Turkish aircraft violated Greek airspace seven times at the northeastern, central and southeastern Aegean on Tuesday, in incidents that resulted in one dogfight between Greek and Turkish fighter jets.

The six Turkish F-16 jets which flew in three formations and the two CN-235 also infringed air traffic regulations five times.

The foreign aircraft were identified and intercepted according to international rules.

Trial of US pastor Brunson resumes in Turkey on terror-related charges

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The trial of U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson, who faces up to 35 years in jail on terror and spy charges, resumed in Turkey on May 7.

Brunson, leader of a small Protestant Christian church in the western city of İzmir named “Yeniden Diriliş” (Resurrection) and described by U.S. President Donald Trump as a “fine gentleman,” was detained in October 2016.