Abdullah Bozkurt/StockholmA Turkish police chief wanted for arrest by US authorities on multiple criminal charges participated in clandestine operations with Turkish intelligence in Libya before President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recruited him to his protective detail. Sümercan is among those wanted by US authorities for attacking protestors outside of the Turkish ambassador’s residence in May 2017 in Washington, D.C. The altercation was not the first time that Turkish security forces had stirred violence in the American capital. Members of Erdoğan’s security team had collided with demonstrators a year earlier outside the Brookings Institution, where Erdoğan was giving a speech. Elif Uzun Sümercan has recently been rewarded by Erdoğan, who appointed her as a department head at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 07, 2021 23:15 UTC