According to Turkish journalists who tried to cover the speech of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Washington on Thursday, the president's bodyguards verbally abused, kicked and tussled them. The riot happened in the event at the Brookings Institution where Erdogan gave a speech.
Erdogan has been facing controversy as he controls the media's freedom of speech in Turkey. The Turkish president attended the US President's nuclear security summit the same day when the commotion between Erdogan's bodyguards and Turkish journalist happened. Several Turkish journalists were hurt when Turkish security officials intervened to remove them from the Brookings Institution, according to ABC News Go.
Journalist for daily Özgür Düşünce, Adem Yavuz Arslan, claimed that he had pre-registered for the event when Erdogan's bodyguard threatened him and kicked him out."They accosted me with bad language. One of them said, 'We are going to kill you because you are a traitor.' They think I am a CIA agent because I am not a supporter of Erdoğan," Arslan said.
One of the Turkish journalists, identified as Emre Uslu, was even injured. He is a journalist at Today's Zaman newspaper, who claimed that he was detained earlier by the Turkish government. Erdogan's man approached him and kicked him hard that his knee bled. As a result, Uslu wasn't able to attend the event, The Guardian reported. During the event, Erdogan was asked about the contentious subject of freedom of the press. Erdogan immediately answered claiming he came prepared to answer the inquiry.
"If you want the details of this, I will be more than happy to share them with you," he said. "This is the brief that I have in my hands. Inside the Turkish prisons there are no journalists who have been incarcerated or sentenced to imprisonment due to their professions or due to their freedom of expression rights. I have seen some people shouting on the streets outside. They are shouting but they don't know what's going on back in Turkey."
Due to the commotion that happened in the event where Turkish journalists were hurt, the National Press Club made an honest comment to Erdogan, The Washington Post reports. According to the statement of Thomas Burr, the club's president, the Turkey leader and his security team were only guests in the U.S. and therefore don't have the right to hurt any protesters or reporters. He added that these people are only doing their jobs or exercising their rights in the country.
Erdogan caught the eye of the international media and several rights groups after he exercised severe control over the Turkish journalists. Even senior US and European officials condemned his actions against the media. Most recently, Erdogan instructed the arrest of several Turkish journalists in the popular Zaman newspaper. He also put several journalists in prison.
