President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized the U.S. move to issue arrest warrants for 12 of his bodyguards linked with a brawl outside the Turkish embassy in Washington last month.
Several people were injured when a brawl broke outside Turkey’s Washington embassy during Erdogan’s visit to the U.S. in May.
Earlier in the day, the U.S. authority had issued arrest warrants for 16 people, including 12 bodyguards of the Turkish president, over the incident.
Speaking at an iftar dinner in the capital Ankara on June 15, Erdogan said: “They have issued arrest warrants for 12 of my bodyguards. What kind of law is this?
“If my bodyguards cannot protect me then why am I bringing them to America with me?”
Erdogan also said the U.S. police failed to intervene the brawl, while urging for empathy over what would happen if the same brawl occurred in Turkey.
“The US police is doing nothing. Can you imagine what the response would have been if a similar incident had taken place in Turkey?” Erdogan added.
He noted that Ankara would continue its political and legal struggle regarding the incident.
