Turkey Summoning of US Ambassador Over Washington Incident 'Troubling' - Senator

The summoning of the US ambassador to Turkey regarding Turkish security personnel’s attack on protesters in Washington, DC last week is troubling and shows Ankara is not taking the situation seriously, US Senator Jeanne Shaheen said on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Earlier on Monday, Turkey summoned US ambassador John Bass over what Ankara called unprofessional actions taken by US police toward bodyguards of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his visit to the Turkish ambassador's residence in Washington, DC last week.

Troubled to see that Turkish gov isn't taking this seriously

— Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (@SenatorShaheen) 22 мая 2017 г.

Video of the violent confrontation on May 16 showed Erdogan apparently watching his security personnel assault Kurdish protesters in Sheridan Circle across the street from the Turkish ambassador’s residence in the US capital.

On Wednesday, the US State Department said it contacted Ankara to express its deep concerns about the incident, which injured 11 people.

The Turkish embassy later released a statement claiming US police did not adequately protect pro-Erdogan demonstrators and blamed the confrontation on the protesters, who it claimed were supporting the US-outlawed terror group Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Some US lawmakers have called for the bodyguards to be investigated, and Senator John McCain called for the Turkish ambassador to be thrown out of the country.