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By Ece Toksabay and Kanishka Singh
ANKARA/ WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A nationalist Turkish youth group on Monday bodily assaulted two U.S. troopers in western Turkey, the U.S. Embassy in Turkey and the native governor’s workplace mentioned, including that 15 assailants had been detained over the incident.
In a press release, the Izmir governor’s workplace mentioned members of the Turkey Youth Union (TGB), a youth department of the nationalist opposition Vatan Social gathering, “bodily attacked” two U.S. troopers wearing civilian garments within the Konak district.
It added that 5 U.S. troopers joined in after seeing the incident, and that police intervened. All 15 attackers had been detained and an investigation was launched into the matter, it mentioned.
A White Home spokesperson mentioned on Monday Washington was “troubled” by the assault however added it was “appreciative that Turkish police are taking this matter significantly and holding these accountable accountable.”
The U.S. Embassy to Turkey additionally confirmed the assault and mentioned the U.S. troopers had been now secure.
“We are able to verify reviews that U.S. service members embarked aboard the usWasp had been the victims of an assault in Izmir at the moment, and at the moment are secure,” it mentioned on social media platform X.
Earlier, the TGB posted a video on X displaying a gaggle holding down a person on the road and placing a white hood over his head, whereas shouting slogans.
The group mentioned the person was a soldier on board the usWasp, an amphibious assault ship. The U.S. Embassy in Ankara had mentioned earlier on Monday that the ship was finishing up a port go to to the Aegean coastal city of Izmir this week.
“U.S. troopers who carry the blood of our troopers and hundreds of Palestinians on their arms can’t soiled our nation. Each time you step foot in these lands, we are going to meet you the way in which you deserve,” TGB mentioned.
U.S.-Turkey ties have been strained lately by the U.S. alliance with Syrian Kurds that Turkey deems extremists, and over Turkey’s buy of Russian S-400 defences that prompted U.S. sanctions and elimination from a F-35 jet programme.
There has additionally been divergence over Israel’s conflict in Gaza, the place over 40,000 individuals have been killed in line with Gaza authorities, and over which Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has sharply criticised Washington’s ally.
Earlier this month, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey mentioned U.S.-Turkey relations at the moment are “in a greater place than we have been shortly” and famous the “helpful position” Turkey performed in a current prisoner trade between the US and Russia.
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