US arrest warrants issued for members of Turkish leader's security team

Washington police have obtained arrest warrants for members of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s security team, who attacked peaceful protesters during the leader’s visit to the US capital last month, officials said today.

Nine people were injured outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence in Washington during a 16 May brawl, which strained US-Turkish relations.

A video posted online showed men in dark suits chasing protesters and punching and kicking them as police struggled to intervene.

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“It’s just something we are not going to tolerate,” Metropolitan Police Department Chief Peter Newsham said today.

Yesterday, Washington police announced the arrests of two Americans involved in the skirmish. Sinan Narin of Virginia faces a charge of felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor assault, and Eyup Yildirim of New Jersey faces two felony assault charges and a misdemeanor assault charge.

Turkey blamed the violence outside its ambassador’s residence on demonstrators linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), but Washington’s police chief called it a “brutal attack” on peaceful protesters.