Brawl suits against Turkey raise questions of law, diplomacy

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Brawl suits against Turkey raise questions of law, diplomacy

2019-05-18 20:56 Last Updated At：21:00

Turkey's leader spoke of cooperation with the United States during a White House visit two years ago with President Donald Trump, but by day's end, the warm rhetoric had been overshadowed by a violent brawl outside the Turkish Embassy that left anti-government protesters badly beaten.

That altercation on May 16, 2017, led to criminal charges against some of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's security officers and civilian supporters. It also spurred lawsuits, now winding their way through federal court, that turn on the question of whether a foreign country can be held responsible in American courts for violence done on its behalf.

One suit goes further, saying the violence meets the legal definition of international terrorism because it was designed to coerce and intimidate a civilian population.

"Nobody expects that security forces from a foreign government will come over and beat them to a pulp, and that's the part that's really crazy," Agnieszka Fryszman, a lawyer for the injured protesters, said in an interview.

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. The legal cases are unfolding as the NATO allies are at odds over a number of issues, including what role Turkey will play in northern Syria as American forces withdraw. The U.S. also has warned Turkey against proceeding with its purchase of an advanced Russian air defense system; the deal, if completed, may incur U.S. sanctions

Turkey has signaled it will argue that, as a sovereign nation, it is immune from being sued, a position that sets the stage for legal and geopolitical wrangling. The strength of Turkey's argument may depend in part on the severity of the assault and the extent of the violence, said Ingrid Wuerth, a professor of international law at Vanderbilt University.

No one would think it legally acceptable if foreign security officers fatally shot protesters, Wuerth said, "but on the other hand, they probably shouldn't be liable if maybe all they did was just push someone to the curb, and in that sense, the question is, where exactly do these allegations fall?"

Lawyers for Turkey say in court papers that the melee began when security officers were confronted by an "encroaching group of apparent terrorist supporters and/or sympathizers" who had already defied the commands of local police officers. The lawyers accuse the other side of "overly broad sermonizing" and say they intend to rebut what they see as unfair criticism of Turkish governance and allegations of human rights atrocities.

Even in an embassy-packed capital where protests are common, including outside the foreign residences that line Washington's Massachusetts Avenue, the altercation stood out for vivid scenes of violence captured on camera and repeatedly broadcast on TV. Many who say they were injured are American citizens, including some who were there with their young children.

It all began as Erdogan was returning to the ambassador's residence after a White House visit, where he and Trump pledged cooperation in fighting the Islamic State group.

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. One woman slipped in and out of consciousness and has suffered seizures, and others reported post-traumatic stress, depression, concussions and nightmares, according to the complaints.

Erdogan remained in his car after it arrived at the ambassador's residence, and after conferring with the head of his security detail, ordered a second attack, the suits allege.

U.S. lawmakers swiftly condemned the violence, writing letters to the departments of State and Justice, and urging the Trump administration to hold the attackers legally accountable.

Prosecutors in Washington initially charged 19 people, including 15 security officers for Erdogan. Two civilians pleaded guilty, but many of the other cases have since been dismissed, with defendants leaving the U.S. after the brawl, according to court papers.

Foreign governments are generally immune from being sued in American courts, but there are multiple exceptions, including for terrorism and other actions that cause injury for which financial damages are sought.

Diplomats and other agents of foreign governments have in the past been held accountable for bad behavior in the U.S., though some of the more memorable cases have involved nonofficial duties such as fatal drunken driving crashes. A Georgian Embassy official, for instance, was sentenced to prison in 1997 for a drunken driving crash that killed a teenage girl.

In perhaps the most recent analogous case, a judge entered a default judgment against the Congolese government after it failed to respond to a suit from a protester who said he was badly beaten in 2014 outside a Washington hotel by security officers for President Joseph Kabila. The Turkey case is different, though, because Turkey has said through its lawyers that it intends to contest the allegations in court.

Both suits name the country. One separately includes as defendants five U.S. and Canadian citizens accused in the attacks. A judge has permitted most of the claims against the defendants, who are not Turkish government officials, to move forward.

Lawyers for the protesters see an opportunity to hold the Turkish government accountable for the violence.

"It's important to protect people's First Amendment rights and the freedom of expression. It's important to show that the United States stands up for those rights," Fryszman said.

Storms battering the Midwest bring tornadoes, hail and strong winds

2024-05-08 13:32 Last Updated At：13:52

DETROIT (AP) — Severe storms continued to barrel through the Midwest early Wednesday, unleashing a curtain of heavy rain, gusty winds and tornadoes that forecasters warned could spill out of the region.

The tornadoes were first spotted after dark Tuesday in parts of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, while portions of Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri were also under a tornado watch, according to the National Weather Service.

As the storms raged on in the pre-dawn hours Wednesday, the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh warned that a tornado in northeastern Ohio could cross into Pennsylvania. Parts of West Virginia were also under a tornado warning.

Hours earlier in southwestern Michigan, two tornadoes blitzed the city of Portage near Kalamazoo on Tuesday night, destroying homes and commercial buildings, including a FedEx facility that was ripped apart.

There were no serious injuries immediately reported, but city officials said in a news release that the twisters knocked out power to more than 20,000 people. Most of them would be without power until late Wednesday, city officials said.

At one point, about 50 people were trapped inside the FedEx facility because of downed power lines. But company spokesperson Shannon Davis said late Tuesday that “all team members are safe and accounted for.”

Tuesday's storms came a day after parts of the central United States were battered by heavy rain, strong winds, hail and twisters. Both the Plains and Midwest have been hammered by tornadoes this spring.

On Monday night, a deadly twister in Oklahoma tore through the small 1,000-person town of Barnsdall. At least one person was killed and another was missing. Dozens of homes were destroyed.

Aerial videos showed homes reduced to piles of rubble and others with roofs torn off. The twister tossed vehicles, downed power lines and stripped limbs and bark from trees across the town. A 160-acre (65-hectare) wax manufacturing facility in the community also sustained heavy damage.

It was the second tornado to hit Barnsdall in five weeks — a twister on April 1 with maximum wind speeds of 90 to 100 mph (145 to 161 kph) damaged homes and blew down trees and power poles.

Before Monday night's powerful tornado touched down, the National Weather Service had warned that “a large and life-threatening tornado” north of Tulsa was headed toward Barnsdall and the nearby town of Bartlesville.

At the Hampton Inn in Bartlesville, several splintered 2x4s were driven into the south side of the building. Chunks of insulation, twisted metal and other debris were scattered over the hotel’s lawn, and vehicles in the parking lot were heavily damaged with blown-out windows.

Hotel guest Matthew Macedo said he was ushered into a laundry room to wait out the storm.

“When the impact occurred, it was incredibly sudden,” he said.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, who toured the twister's damage on Tuesday, said it was rated by weather researchers as a violent tornado with winds reaching up to 200 mph (322 kph). Stitt said he and legislative leaders have agreed to set aside $45 million in this year’s budget to help storm-damaged communities.

“Oklahomans are resilient,” Stitt said, “and we’re going to rebuild.”

Areas in Oklahoma, including Sulphur and Holdenville, are still recovering from a tornado that killed four and left thousands without power late last month.

The powerful storms come amid a wild swing in severe weather across the globe that includes some of the worst-ever flooding in Brazil and a brutal Asian heat wave.

Across the U.S., the entire week is looking stormy. The eastern U.S. and the South are expected to get the brunt of the bad weather through the rest of the week, including in Indianapolis, Memphis, Nashville, St. Louis and Cincinnati — cities where more than 21 million people live. It should be clear over the weekend.

Murphy reported from Oklahoma City. Associated Press journalists around the country contributed to this report, including Rio Yamat, Heather Hollingsworth, Colleen Slevin, Jim Salter, Kathy McCormack, Sarah Brumfield and Beatrice Dupuy.

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