Mediaboss Marketing

This article has been updated.

After he met with President Trump this week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan traveled to Embassy Row in Northwest Washington, where Turkeys ambassador has a home. At some point while Erdogan was there, a group of people across the street at Sheridan Circle began to loudly protest.

The red marker indicates the ambassadors home. The green marker is the location of the protesters.

That protest ended violently, with pro- and anti-Erdogan sides exchanging blows. Voice of America caught the beginning of the fight.

Police fought to separate two groups that violently clashed outside the Turkish ambassador's residence on May 16 in Washington, D.C. (VOA Turkish/Twitter)

That footage quickly demonstrated that the physical altercation originated with several men in suits who were at the front edge of the pro-Erdogan crowd on the south side of the circle. In a newsconference Wednesday, D.C. police stated that some of those involved were members of Erdogans security detail which the Turkish state news agency Anadolu confirmed. Police did not heed Turkish demands to intervene, Anadolu said, as The Post has reported, so the guards moved in to disperse them.

The police didnt heed those demands to break up a peaceful protest, of course, because those protests were legal, protected under the First Amendment.

On Thursday afternoon, a new wrinkle: It turns out that Erdogan himself observed the brawl from the driveway of the ambassadors residence.

A video released by Voice of America appears to show Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan observing an attack on protesters outside the Turkish ambassador's residence in Washington on May 16. (VOATurkish)

If you watch that video closely, though, youll notice something else. Right before the brawling starts, a man appears to receive instruction from Erdogan, who then signals to another man who walks down the driveway to the street and the brawling begins seconds later.

Timestamp 0:01: A man leans into the car to speak with Erdogan (large circle). We know its Erdogan in the rear passenger side because he later emerges from that point. A man with a mustache (small circle) stands nearby.

0:14: After talking with Erdogan, the man next to the door speaks with the man with a mustache.

0:16: The man with a mustache heads down toward the street.

0:22: The protesters, who had been chanting Baby-killer Erdogan, suddenly go quiet.

0:28: The cameraman catches the scuffle through the trees.

1:13: Erdogan emerges from the car, at right. The man with the mustache comes back up the driveway as he does so.

1:16: Erdogan and the man with the mustache speak.

1:29: Erdogan walks away from the car. Note the heavyset man in the background.

If you go back to the first footage of the brawl, you can see that heavyset man participating in the fight. Here he is, at the 25-second mark.

The close-up video of the scuffle begins at about the 21-second mark of the Erdogan video, which we can tell by comparing stills from the two.

In other words, the timelines match: Five seconds after the man with the mustache heads down the sidewalk, a man in a suit runs across the street and attacks the protesters. The Turkish the state news agency confirms that Erdogans guards were among those involved in the fight.

We reached out to the VOA and the Armenian National Committee of America (which also had footage) to see if there were other angles showing the south side of the street shortly before the brawl began. VOA had no additional footage to share; we havent heard back from ANCA. Update: ANCA had no additional footage that helped answer the question.

[How the U.S. can hold Erdogans brawling guards accountable and keep it from happening again]

That Turkish security forces violated the First Amendment rights of American protesters is, of course, a significant breach of international diplomacy, one that has received no small amount of attention over the past few days. If they did so at the direct encouragement of Erdogan, that raises the stakes significantly.

We have reached out to the Turkish embassy for comment.

If you have any additional footage of the brawl, please email.

Here is the original post:
Was Erdogan personally involved in his bodyguards' attacks on protesters in DC? - Washington Post

Audiovisual analysis of footage recorded at the Turkish embassy on Tuesday sheds light on the verbal commands given by Turkeys president prior to his bodyguards attack on a group of Kurdish protesters.

A professional sound editor named Salih Ferad conducted the analysis on behalf of The Daily Caller.

Usingnoise reduction and volume enhancement techniques, Ferad determined that Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogans security detail shouted out the phrases he says attack and come, come, come as they charged the protesters.

The battle cries came just after Erdogan appeared to relay orders to his personal bodyguard while sitting in the back of a black Mercedes Benz outside of the embassy.

In video of that scene, recorded by Voice of America Turkish news service, Erdogans bodyguard stands up from the Mercedes and appears to relay a message to another man who was positioned closer to the street level action. The man then turns and rushes quickly in the direction of the protests. Shouting is heard, and Erdogans security staff was seen storming the protesters. (RELATED: Video Emerges Of Erdogan Watching As His Goons Attack Protesters)

Erdogans security detail won the street battle. Suit-clad men from the pro-Erdogan side of the fracas were recorded kicking protesters in the head and choking others. Nine people were injured, one seriously.

The incident has increased tensions between the U.S. and Turkish governments. It also comes as Erdogan is in the midst of a crackdown on dissenters at home.

Ferad analyzed the VOA Turkish video, which shows Erdogan calmly watching as the brawl unfolds yards away.

Using noise isolation techniques, Ferad says that the wordsdaln diyor, servetabidaln diyor can be heard coming from the presidential guard just after Erdogan is seen speaking with his bodyguard.

That translates to he says attack servet abi, he says attack. Another translation of the phrase is he says dive in or plunge in.

Servet is the name of the person being addressed, and abi translates to the term of endearment, older brother.

WATCH:

In a second video recorded in the middle of the brawl, Erdogans men are heard yelling gel gel gel come, come, come and daln diyordaln diyordaln diyor, or he says attack.

Ferad included timestamps and captions in the videos he analyzed.

WATCH:

The State Department has said it is investigating the incident and also issued a statement condemning the Turkish government in the strongest possible terms.

The embassy responded by claiming that Erdogans protection detail was acting in self-defense against the protesters, which the Turkish government claims were terrorists associated with PKK, a left-wing Kurdish political party.

Several lawmakers blasted Erdogan and his goons. The video of Erdogan hanging out in his Mercedes and apparently ordering the onslaught also led to widespread outrage on social media.

Arizona Sen. John McCain said in an interview on Thursday that the U.S. government should throw Turkeys ambassador, Serdar Kilic, the hell out of the United States of America.

In one video recorded of Tuesdays events, Kilic is seen confronting a Washington, D.C. police officer who was trying to break up the street fight.

You cannot touch us, he tells the officer, seemingly citing diplomatic immunity granted to registered diplomatic agents.

Follow Chuck on Twitter

Go here to see the original:
Audio Analysis: Erdogan Goons Were Told To Attack Protesters | The ...

New York Times

NBA Player Enes Kanter Says Opposition to Erdogan Led to Detainment in Romania New York Times You guys know him by, you know, he has attacked the people in Washington, Kanter said in reference to a recent episode involving Mr. Erdogan's bodyguards and protesters in Washington. He is a bad, bad man; he is a dictator and he is the Hitler of ... NBA player Enes Kanter detained for criticizing Turkish president ErdoganWashington Examiner Enes Kanter Held in Romania: Turkish NBA Star Says Anti-Erdogan Views Got Passport RevokedNewsweek NBA player claims passport revoked for criticizing Turkish presidentThe Hill Sports Illustrated -The Big Lead all 49 news articles »

See the original post:
NBA Player Enes Kanter Says Opposition to Erdogan Led to Detainment in Romania - New York Times

President Donald Trump and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to discuss U.S.Turkish trade relations, the fight against terrorism, and more. But one topic that seems to have been ignored was Turkeys democratic-turned-autocratic regime, which is at odds with a core NATO principle: that member states will promote democratic values.

Erdogan is intolerant of any opposition, especially when it comes from those in the media. As of December 2016, 81 journalists, more than in any other country in the world, were in Turkish prisons.

The U.S. and its NATO allies must lead Turkey back on to the path toward democracy, not autocracy. Turkey officially joined NATO in 1952 after establishing a multiparty election system in 1950. Nearly 70 years later, Turkeys NATO allies must continue to hold all members to high standards, ensuring that they maintain democratic norms.

If the U.S. and NATO remain silent on Erdogans violations of human rights, the number of Turkish citizens being persecuted will likely increase, especially now that Erdogan has the authority to control all three branches of government. The Turkish people in April passed a referendum granting him broad presidential power, but there is reason to believe that it was not a fair and free election.

On Tuesday, the Bipartisan Policy Center said that the U.S. should call for a reputable and impartial international review of the referendum, and continue to treat the results as illegitimate until such a point as Turkey has a free press and independent judiciary capable of investigating all evidence of fraud. The BPC document also called on the U.S. to demand that Turkish officials release the journalists who are imprisoned because of their opposition to the president. The key for American policymakers, it said, is to remain critical of Erdogans intensified efforts to crack down on his opponents through increasingly draconian means.

Thus far, however, President Trump has done the opposite: He congratulated Erdogan for his referendum victory and pursued a stronger alliance with Turkey in the fight against terrorism. Advocates of a TrumpErdogan alliance argue that Trumps actions are appropriate: A U.S.Turkish alliance in the fight against terrorism is necessary, and publicly opposing Erdogans regime would undermine counterterrorism efforts.

But Blaise Misztal, the director of the BPCs national-security program, tells National Review that Turkish cooperation with the U.S. on counterterrorism is mythical at this point. Turkey turned a blind eye to ISISs use of its territory until 2015, Misztal explains, and it has bombed the Syrian Kurds, a U.S. ally on the ground.

The U.S. and NATO ought to call Erdogan out on his excesses, Misztal says. More than anything, what Erdogan craves is the approval of world leaders....He wants to be seen as a player on the world stage. If Turkeys NATO allies ignore Erdogans human-rights violations, the nation will almost certainly see the demise of its remaining democratic norms.

Even faced with the possibility of losing their democracy, Erdogans supporters appear to have remained loyal over the past several elections (if we assume that the result of Aprils referendum on executive power was anaccurate reflection of public opinion). In the June 2015 parliamentary election, Erdogans party earned only 40.87 percent of the national vote but, according to the BPC, the data on Turkish elections suggest[s] that the results of June 2015 were an anomaly and that concerns over Erdogans authoritarianism, as well as the risks it brings to Turkeys stability and economic prosperity, have had little impact on voters. It seems that many of Erdogans devout supporters are concerned more with religious and cultural issues than with human rights and democracy.

If members of NATO dont begin expressing their disapproval of Erdogans regime, they will soon have in their alliance a country that explicitly defies the values NATO cherishes. Though he entered office with the promise of liberalization, EU membership, and economic growth, the BPC report stated, Erdogan now represents authoritarianism, abandonment of the West, and civil conflict.

Austin Yack is a William F. Buckley Fellow in Political Journalism at the National Review Institute.

See the article here:
Stand Up to Erdogan's Assault on Democracy - National Review

Middle East Eye

ANALYSIS: Erdogan reigns supreme, wearing a crown of thorns Middle East Eye ISTANBUL, Turkey - The Turkish president's anointment as the ruling party's leader on Sunday could be a poisoned chalice - no longer shall Recep Tayyip Erdogan be able to scapegoat the system or the failure of others during a time of internal party ...

More:
ANALYSIS: Erdogan reigns supreme, wearing a crown of thorns - Middle East Eye