That altercation on May 16, 2017, led to criminal charges against some of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s security officers and civilian supporters. The suits have diplomatic implications and raise questions about how much legal protection should be extended to the people who protect international leaders from raucous demonstrations when they travel abroad. Many who say they were injured are American citizens, including some who were there with their young children. Security officers for Erdogan, including some armed and dressed in military-style clothing, clashed with protesters denouncing Turkey’s treatment of its Kurdish minorities and its policies in Syria and Iraq. Plaintiffs in two separate suits say they were brutally punched and kicked, cursed at, and greeted with slurs and throat-slashing gestures.

Source: thestar May 18, 2019 13:03 UTC