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Germanys Foreign Ministry has warned the bodyguards of Turkish President Recep Erdogan not to attend the upcoming G-20 summit in Hamburg, after last month they assaulted protesters in Washington, D.C.

In May, during Turkish President Recep Erdogans visit to the US capital for his first meeting with US President Donald Trump, his bodyguards managed to push past US police, and attack a group of Kurdish protesters in front of the residence of the Turkish Ambassador in Washington.

A video published by the Turkish-language service of the Voice of America (VOA) captured the skirmish in which a group of men in suits punch and kick protesters while the US police struggled to contain the outbreak of violence.

The incident led the city of Washington to condemned a brutal attack on peaceful protesters by Recep Erdogans bodyguards, and the US State Department expressed concern to Turkey in the strongest possible terms.

Following the incident, the US authoritiesannounced arrest warrants had been issued for 12 members of Erdogans security detail,includingnine security guards and three police officers.

Turkeys Foreign Ministry counterattacked by formally protesting with the US ambassador for the aggressive actions of US security personnel.

It also criticized the inability of US authorities to take sufficient precautions at every stage of the official program and demanded a full investigation of the incident.

Last year Erdogans bodyguards attacked reporters outside the Brookings Institution in a similar incident.

Germanys warning for Erdogans security personnel comes against the backdrop of a long-standing diplomatic conflict with Turkey fueled by a wide range of issues.

A handout photo made available by the Turkish President Press office on 25 June 2017 shows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (2-L) waving to supporters after offering Eid al-Ramadan prayers at the Mimar Sinan Mosque, in Istanbul, Turkey, 25 June 2017. Photo: Turkish Presidency/EPA/REX/Shutterstock

Renowned for Clashes

The German Foreign Ministry warned Turkishbodyguards involved in violent scuffles in Washington last month not to attend the G-20 summit on July 7-8, German media reported, as cited by state-run media DW.

German officials are preparing for violence at the G-20 forum not just from protesters but also from the Turkish Presidents bodyguards which are renowned for clashing with activists, DW states.

Thewarnings were then repeated to members of the Bundestag, i.e. the German Parliament, in closed-door meetings, German newspaper Die Welt reported.

Germanys Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) said earlier that foreign powers did not hold sovereign powers, saying foreign colleagues only have the right to self-defense.

On our streets, only the Hamburg police have a say and no one else. This includes foreign security forces, Hamburg Senator Andy Grote told Die Welt.

The Turkish Embassy in Berlin sent the Foreign Ministry a list of 50 people who were to accompany Erdogan to Hamburg, local daily Hamburger Abendblatt reported.

The list reportedly included several agents who were involved in an incident inWashington last month.

Left-Wing & Kurdish Protests

More than 10,000 far-leftactivi are expected to descend on Hamburg for the G20 Summit being held on July 7 and July 8.

Hamburg is already a hotbed of left-wing activism and cars have been regularly torchedin the lead up to the summit, DW notes.

Adding to the possibility of potential violence is the large Kurdish presence in the city, many of whom support the banned Kurdish Workers Party (PKK). Several thousand well-organized Turkish right-wing extremists such as the Ulkucu (Gray Wolves) movement reportedly operate in Germany as well.

The Kurdish scene is highly hierarchical, and does not need a long lead time to mobilize, a senior security official told Hamburger Abendblatt.

Germanys domestic intelligence agency (BfV) told Die Welt that street battles between Kurds and nationalist Turks could easily erupt.

New Lows in German-Turkish Ties

Relations between Germany and Turkey keep sinking to new lows as Turkish President Recep Erdogan and the Turkish Cabinet continue to implement measures deemed in the West as undemocratic, and do not hesitate to use Nazi slurs against Germany and other Western European countries such as the Netherlands and Austria.

In June 2016, Turkey banned a German MP delegation from visiting the German troops in Incirlik in response to the German governments decision to recognize the killing of around 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1917as genocide, known as the Armenian Genocide.

Although the Armenian Genocide crisis died down in the following months, tensions between Germany and Turkey have remained high. They flared up again before Turkeys presidential republic referendum on April 16, which Erdogan and his party AKP won with a very narrow majority, with the Turkish opposition disputing the results, and international observers finding numerous violations.

Before the referendum, several German local authorities banned Erdogans government ministers from campaign among Turkish expats in Germany which caused outrage in Ankara and led the Turkish President to insult the Germans with references to Nazism.

A number of German lawmakers have also been outraged at what they see as flagrant repression of freedoms during Erdogans crackdown on civil servants and the media following the failed July 2016 coup attempted by the Turkish military.

Dozens of journalistshave been imprisoned in Turkey, including Turkish-German correspondent of a leading German newspaper, Deniz Yucel.

Turkey recently said it was going to stop teaching evolution in high schools, and will scale down the teaching of the legacy of secularism of its founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. In another development, Istanbuls gay pride march was prevented for a third year in a row.

German Chancellor Merkel has ruled out allowing Turks in Germany to vote in a potential Turkish referendum on reintroducing the death penalty. Turkeys bid to join the EU appears to have ground to a halt precisely because of Erdogans controversial policies and moves.

A German press recently report alleged crucial European members of NATO such as Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands as well as North American member Canada were working to block Turkey from hosting the 2018 NATO Summit.

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Germany Tells Erdogan to Keep Bodyguards Out of Hamburg G-20 Summit in Wake of Skirmish in Washington Report - Intelligencer Post

He did not collapse, said the reporter, Aziz Ozen, who works for Hurriyet, one of Turkeys leading newspapers. He just leaned to his left, and they got him right away.

A government official declined to provide any more details on the incident, instead offering a Turkish news report saying that the president had fainted.

According to Turkish protocol, if Mr. Erdogan had been incapacitated for a longer period of time, he would have been temporarily replaced by the speaker of the Turkish Parliament, Ismail Kahraman, a lawmaker from Mr. Erdogans party.

In metaphorical terms, however, Mr. Erdogans absence would leave a void. He has been the central figure in Turkish politics for a decade and a half, and he has succeeded in isolating most of his rivals, both within his party and outside it.

His son-in-law, Berat Albayrak, Turkeys energy minister, is often mentioned as a potential successor. But he lacks Mr. Erdogans personal appeal.

Mr. Erdogans health scare occurred at the end of the month of Ramadan, when Mr. Erdogan, a Muslim, had been fasting during daylight hours.

It follows a series of diplomatic crises involving Mr. Erdogans government. In recent weeks, Turkey has sided with Qatar in its spat with most of its neighbors, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which are angered by Qatari foreign policy.

In a show of solidarity, Mr. Erdogans government agreed to send more Turkish troops to join those already in Qatar. After Saudi Arabia criticized the move, Mr. Erdogan reacted angrily on Saturday, calling the Saudis disrespectful.

Mr. Erdogan is also angry with the United States. In Syria, the American government is working with Syrian Kurdish militias whom Turkey views as terrorists. In Washington, American officials have issued arrest warrants for a group of Mr. Erdogans bodyguards who were filmed assaulting protesters during Mr. Erdogans visit last month.

That furor has now threatened to add a new tension to Turkish-German relations. There have been reports in the German news media suggesting that the German government had told Turkey the bodyguards involved in the Washington incident would not be welcome in Hamburg for a Group of 20 summit meeting in early July.

Officials in Berlin declined on Monday to confirm the news reports. But Martin Schfer, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, said that he could assume with a good conscience that these people who have been incriminated by American judicial authorities wont set foot on German soil in the foreseeable future, including during the G-20 summit.

Ralf Martin Meyer, the chief of police in Hamburg, told the German newspaper Bild on Monday that a clear message had been sent to Turkish officials that we will not accept something like this, he said, referring to the incident in Washington.

Some 15,000 police officers are expected to be deployed to secure the streets of Hamburg during the international summit meeting, the first in more than a decade to be held in a German city. Hamburg has a long tradition of extreme leftist groups and a lively anarchist scene that has been plotting for months to disrupt the arrival of the delegates.

Hamburg is also home to roughly 90,000 Turks and their descendants, many of them ethnic Kurds. That has prompted worries about possible clashes between Mr. Erdogans supporters and opponents, beyond the general disruption sought by leftist organizers.

Mr. Meyer said that German police officers would not hesitate to detain anyone involved in clashes, regardless of their motivation. We would move very swiftly and very clearly against this, the police chief said. Here on the streets of Hamburg, we alone have such authority.

Follow Patrick Kingsley @patrickkingsley and Melissa Eddy @meddynyt on Twitter.

Patrick Kingsley reported from Istanbul, and Melissa Eddy from Berlin.

A version of this article appears in print on June 27, 2017, on Page A5 of the New York edition with the headline: Erdogan Says Blood Sugar Caused Scare Over Health.

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President Erdogan of Turkey Recovers From Minor Health Scare - New York Times

BBC News

Germany warns Erdogan bodyguards not to attend G20 BBC News Germany says it does not expect Turkish security agents who were charged for violent scuffles in Washington last month to join President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a G20 summit next week. A spokesman said leaders can bring their own bodyguards to the ... Turkey's Erdogan calls for review of Nato over US arming of Kurds fighting Isil in SyriaTelegraph.co.uk Erdogan's bodyguards 'not welcome in Germany' after DC brawlCNN Germany to Turkey's President Erdogan: Your bodyguards not welcome at G20USA TODAY Financial Times -U.S. News & World Report -The Star Online all 61 news articles »

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Germany warns Erdogan bodyguards not to attend G20 - BBC News

Alistair Walsh, Deutsche Welle Published 4:28 a.m. ET June 26, 2017 | Updated 6 hours ago

A dozen Turkish security guards will face charges for attacking protesters outside the Turkish Embassy during President Erdogan's visit. Video provided by Newsy Newslook

Police secure the street outside the Turkish Embassy during a visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 16, 2017, in Washington.(Photo: Dave Clark, AFP/Getty Images)

Germany's foreign ministry warned Turkish bodyguards involved in violent scuffles in Washington last month not to attend the G20 summit in July, German media reportedon Sunday.

Those warnings were then repeated to Bundestag (Germany's Parliament) members in closed-door meetings, respected national daily Die Welt reported.

The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) said earlier that foreign powers did not hold sovereign powers, saying "foreign colleagues only have the right to self-defense," the paper reported.

Hamburg Senator Andy Grote told Die Welt: "On our streets, only the Hamburg police have a say and no one else. This includes foreign security forces."

The Turkish Embassy sent the foreign ministry a list of 50 people who were to accompany President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Hamburg, local daily Hamburger Abendblatt reported on Sunday. The list reportedly included several agents who were involved in an incident in Washington last month.

Erdogan's guards beat protestors

In May, Erdogan's bodyguards allegedly pushed past U.S. police to attack supporters of a Kurdish group following a meeting with President Trump in Washington.

Videos posted to social media showed a group of men in suits punching and kicking protesters, including a woman lying down, while police struggled to stop the violence.

U.S. authorities announced arrest warrants had been issued for 12 members of Erdogan's security detail, including nine security guards and three police officers.

Turkeys foreign ministry lodged a formal protest with the U.S. ambassador for the "aggressive" actions of U.S. security personnel. It released a statement criticizing "the inability of U.S. authorities to take sufficient precautions at every stage of the official program" and demanded a full investigation of the incident.

Last year Erdogan's bodyguards also attacked a group outside the Brookings Institution, ejecting a Turkish reporter from the speech venue, kicking another and throwing a third to the ground outside the prominent think tank.

Protests planned for Hamburg

More than 10,000 left-wing extremists are expected to descend on Hamburg for the G20 Summit being held on July 7 and July 8. Hamburg is already a hotbed of left-wing activism and cars have been regularly torched in the lead up to the summit.

Adding to the possibility of potential violence is the large Kurdish presence in the Hanseatic city, many of whom support the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK). Several thousand well-organized Turkish right-wing extremists such as the Ulkucu or Gray Wolf movement reportedly operate in Germany as well.

"The Kurdish scene is highly hierarchical, and does not need a long lead time to mobilize," a senior security official told Hamburger Abendblatt.

Germany's domestic intelligence agency (BfV) warned Die Welt that street battles between Kurds and nationalist Turks could easily erupt.

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This article originally appeared on Deutsche Welle. Its content was created separately to USA TODAY.

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Germany to Turkey's President Erdogan: Your bodyguards not welcome at G20 - USA TODAY

The announcement comes ahead of the G20 summit in Germany next week, which Erdogan is expected to attend.

Turkish security officials -- including some of Erdogan's personal guards, according to US officials -- fought with protesters outside the Turkish ambassador's residence in Washington in May.

Martin Schafer, a spokesperson for the German Foreign Ministry, said Monday: "Some foreign security services of the Turkish delegation did not abide by the law and therefore those people are not welcome in Germany for the foreseeable future."

According to German media, the Foreign Ministry received a list of 50 people who were to accompany Erdogan to the G20 in Hamburg, some of whom were involved in the incident in Washington.

In response, the Ministry reportedly told Turkey not to bring those bodyguards to the summit, according to Die Welt.

Schafer refused to confirm or deny details of the reports, but made it clear that everyone attending the summit must respect German law. "The Turkish side just like all other guests who travel to Germany must abide by German law," he said. "This is what our Turkish partners also know."

The Turkish Foreign Ministry and Erdogan's office did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment. Monday and Tuesday are public holidays in Turkey.

The bloody brawl occurred shortly after the first official meeting between Erdogan and President Trump at the White House.

Nine people ended up in hospital when Turkish security officials -- including members of Erdogan's personal security detail -- clashed with demonstrators on May 16 outside the Turkish ambassador's residence in Washington.

Video showed Erdogan looking on as Turkish guards beat up protesters, before heading into the ambassador's home.

The Turkish embassy rejected the US' version of events, however, claiming that the protesters outside the residence were "affiliated with the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party)" -- a banned separatist group in Turkey -- and had assembled without permission.

Police in Washington issued warrants for 12 of Erdogan's security officers in mid-June. Erdogan denied his security detail had done anything wrong and questioned the legality of the warrant.

"They didn't do anything (to the protesters). In addition to that, yesterday, they detained two of our brothers who intervened ... they issued arrest warrants for 12 of my security officials. What kind of law is this? What kind of legal system is this?" Erdogan said.

A statement issued by the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the decision to issue warrants was "wrong, biased and lacks legal basis." It said the brawl was "caused by the failure of local security authorities to take necessary measures," and that "Turkish citizens cannot be held responsible."

Germany's warning to Turkey comes amid significant security concerns around the G20 summit next week.

Security measures will be extremely rigorous, even by G20 standards, a police spokesperson in Hamburg told CNN.

Fifteen thousand police officers from across the country -- supported by police from Austria, Denmark and the Netherlands -- will be deployed, including snipers, special forces, counterterrorism police and canine units.

Drones used in war zones will circle the skies and tanks will be deployed on the streets, the spokesperson said.

Police are expecting between 50,000 and 100,000 protesters during the summit. Eight thousand left-wing extremists are expected to be among them.

Countless left-wing groups are organizing protests against Erdogan, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin -- all of whom are expected to attend the summit -- as well as anti-capitalism and climate change demonstrations.

And Turkey may be a particular source of tension. Members of the Kurdistan Workers Party are expected to attend, and police are preparing themselves for potential clashes between Kurdish activists and Turkish nationals.

CNN's Gul Tuysuz contributed to this report.

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Erdogan's bodyguards 'not welcome in Germany' after DC brawl - CNN