Erdoğan and Trump met in Washington but the main agenda became Erdoğan's guards attacking the Kurds. The last time Washington witnessed violence at this level was one year ago, in 2016 when Erdoğan's guards attacked protestors in front of the Brookings Institute during his visit to the city.

Before the Trump-Erdoğan meeting in the White House on May 16, Kurds in Washington filed an application in the name of Washington Kurdish Community on May 4 and obtained permission for the demonstration scheduled for the 16th. In addition, demonstrations with less than 750 participants do not require permission in Washington. In spite of that, the demo of the Kurds was permitted.

THE NEPHEW AND GUARDS PANICKED

Before the Erdoğan-Trump meeting began on May 16, Kurds, Armenians and some groups demanding the release of Pastor Andrew Brunson gathered in the area of Amnesty International.

A small group of Erdoğan supporters attacked the Kurds and tensions in front of the White House continued for a while.

Demonstrators started to leave the area after the Erdoğan-Trump meeting ended at 15:00 US time and a group of 20-25 people started to walk towards the Turkish Ambassador's Residence at a 20-min distance from the White House, which was Erdoğan's next stop after the meeting with Trump.

The group arrived at the scene and continued their protest by unfurling YPG flags. They were chanting slogans against Erdoğan's dictatorship and cooperation with ISIS when Erdoğan's convoy arrived, and moved amid slogans “Terrorist Erdoğan” and “Bijî YPG”. Erdoğan's personal bodyguards started to shout at other guards and Erdoğan's supporters “Why don't you do something?”. The first attack came at that moment and the altercation ended when the US police intervened.

PROVOCATION BY ERDOĞAN'S NEPHEW

After the leave of the guards, Erdoğan's nephew Halil Mutlu, unable to reach his goal for the suppression of the demonstrators, came to the fore and started to shout at the police and motivate the guards for another assault which came 5 minutes after the first one. Halil Mutlu organized all the guards and made them attack the Kurdish protestors brutally. 11 people were injured and 2 were taken into custody during the assault. One of those detained was an activist from Rojhilat (Eastern Kurdistan) and he was released Thursday morning. Two of those injured are in critical condition.

AA REPORTER AMONG THE ATTACKERS

In the meantime, the state-run Anadolu Agency's reporter Sefvan Allahverdi was spotted among the attackers. The mainstream media made interviews with the injured and broadcast live from the scene.

Co-mayor of Washington DC, State of Department, Committee on Foreign Relations and Senator John Mccain all issued statements condemning the incident.

Washington police made a 20 minutes statement to the press and said they will deepen the investigation into the incident with cooperation with the FBI and Department of State.