Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Sunday TURKISH TUMULT; NO EXCUSE FOR BEATINGS BY ERDOGAN'S BODYGUARDS the Editorial Board Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The visit to Washington of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan included a violent confrontation at the Turkish ambassador's residence between Mr. Erdogan's bodyguards and protesters against his visit. Some of the protesters ended up in the hospital. High-level visitors normally bring their own armed bodyguards to supplement the efforts of various American services. These can include the U.S. Secret Service, Department of State security and Washington-area police forces. Protection of the visitors sometimes becomes complicated, particularly when there are present in the United States natives of those countries or Americans who are opposed to the particular foreign leaders or their regimes. Sometimes it gets really complicated. There was one instance in which American security services were obliged to disarm the bodyguards of a visiting African president when what was believed to be an attempted coup d'etat occurred in his country during the visit and the loyalty of his bodyguards came into question. One of the worst nightmares of an American government would be the assassination of a foreign leader during a visit to America. No one would ever believe that the United States was not complicit. The visit of the Turkish president presented particular difficulties for U.S. security services because Mr. Erdogan and his government are opposed in Turkey and by some in the United States by Kurds, Armenians and the adherents of a Turkish opposition figure resident in Pennsylvania, Fethullah Gulen. A small group of protesters gathered at the Turkish ambassador's residence in Washington, and were, in a nasty melee, beaten by Mr. Erdogan's bodyguards. Visiting VIPs' bodyguards are considered part of the visiting delegation, with diplomatic immunity. In this case, the Turkish bodyguards have since left American shores. The bodyguards were absolutely wrong to behave brutally on American soil, to the degree that they acted off the Turkish ambassador's property, which is considered Turkish soil; the question is still under study. There is also fault to be allocated to the various American security elements for not keeping the bodyguards and demonstrators apart. They are, in fact, quite accustomed to do so. Mr. Erdogan is by no means the only controversial foreign figure to visit Washington. Nonetheless, the Turkish bodyguards did their country and their government's cause no favor by beating up what were apparently peaceful demonstrators. https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.post-2Dgazette.com_opinion_editorials_2017_05_21_Turkish-2Dtumult-2DNo-2Dexcuse-2Dfor-2Dbeatings-2Dby-2DErdogan-2Ds-2Dbodyguards_stories_201705200015&d=DwIBaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=VIDgXOvBWnPcX9gqp-fv573K3_520Xa_yAyL0lE70-o&s=DuCc762uqvQiGeRVD7Dtnpf1svD6h_zR9JlJ9KWGDUY&e=