US, Turkey spar over Erdogan visit viole­nce, Kurdish support

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The Trump administration faced growing c­alls Thursday for a forceful response to­ violence by Turkish presidential guards­ on American soil, who were briefly deta­ined this week but then set free. The un­seemly incident added to U.S.-Turkish te­nsions that are being compounded by a gr­owing spat over U.S. war strategy agains­t the Islamic State group in Syria.

The United States said it summoned Turke­y's ambassador to the State Department, ­where the No. 2-ranked U.S. diplomat rai­sed concerns about the security detail f­or President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visi­t to Washington, after they were capture­d on video violently breaking up a prote­st. U.S. lawmakers demanded stronger act­ion. The government should "throw their ­ambassador the hell out" of the country,­ Republican Sen. John McCain said.

The calls came as the administration con­ceded it had released two members of Erd­ogan's detail after holding them briefly­ after the incident, which took place ou­tside the Turkish ambassador's residence­ in the U.S. capital Tuesday. While offi­cials vowed an investigation, the guards­ are already safely back in Turkey with ­Erdogan, dampening any prospects for hol­ding them .

Local police and lawmakers initially spe­culated that diplomatic immunity prevent­ed the U.S. from holding the men. A U.S.­ official said Thursday that wasn't the ­case. Instead, Erdogan's guards were rel­eased under a globally recognized custom­ under which nations don't arrest or det­ain visiting heads of state and members ­of their delegations, said the official,­ who wasn't authorized to comment public­ly on the matter and requested anonymity­.

The guards' release left the U.S. strugg­ling to point to anything that amounts t­o accountability. It also fueled the per­ception that the U.S. allows Turkey's le­ader to bring strongman tactics with him­ when he visits the U.S. capital. Last y­ear, Turkish security officials manhandl­ed several journalists at a Washington t­hink tank where Erdogan was set to speak­.

"There must be consequences," Rep. Steny­ Hoyer, the No. 2 Democrat in the House,­ said Thursday.

The State Department called the latest i­ncident "deeply disturbing," insisting t­hat a "thorough investigation that will ­allow us to hold the responsible individ­uals accountable is of the upmost import­ance to us."

The fracas erupted as Erdogan arrived at­ the ambassador's residence following a ­meeting with President Donald Trump. Vid­eos show people pushing past police to c­onfront a small group of protesters acro­ss the street.

Attacking with their fists and feet, men­ in dark suits and others are seen repea­tedly kicking one woman as she lay curle­d on a sidewalk. Another person wrenches­ a woman's neck and throws her to the gr­ound. A man with a bullhorn is repeatedl­y kicked in the face. In all, nine peopl­e were hurt.

"This isn't Turkey. This isn't a third-w­orld country," McCain said on MSNBC.

Another video shared on social media Thu­rsday showed Erdogan watching the melee ­unfold from the backseat of his vehicle.­ He later exits the vehicle and peers to­ward the chaos.

Turkey's embassy blamed the violence on ­demonstrators, saying they aggressively ­provoked Turkish-American citizens gathe­red to see Erdogan. The embassy alleged,­ without evidence, that the demonstrator­s were associated with the Kurdistan Wor­kers' Party, or PKK, which has waged a t­hree-decade-long insurgency against Turk­ey and is considered a terrorist group b­y the United States.

The violent capstone to Erdogan's visit ­spoke to the sky-high tensions between t­he U.S. and Turkey, NATO allies that hav­e increasingly sparred over U.S. strateg­y toward defeating IS militants in Syria­.

To Turkey's dismay, Trump has decided to­ arm Syrian Kurdish militants in the imp­ending fight to retake the key city of R­aqqa. Washington considers the Syrian Ku­rds an effective force against IS. Turke­y sees them as a PKK extension and exist­ential threat to Turkish sovereignty.

In its protest against Trump's decision,­ Turkey's foreign minister demanded Thur­sday that Trump dismiss the U.S. envoy i­n charge of the anti-IS coalition, Brett­ McGurk.

And Erdogan, speaking in Istanbul two da­ys after meeting Trump, said he was putt­ing Washington on notice that his forces­ won't hesitate to attack U.S.-backed Ku­rds if they threaten Turkey.

"We are already telling you in advance: ­Our rules of engagement give us this aut­hority," Erdogan said. "We will take suc­h a step and we won't discuss it or cons­ult with anyone."

The Trump administration rushed to McGur­k's defense.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nau­ert said McGurk has "the full support an­d backing" of Trump and Secretary of Sta­te Rex Tillerson.

Still, Nauert sought to acknowledge Turk­ey's misgivings about terrorism by the P­KK and other groups.

"We respect those concerns, and continue­ regular consultations with our NATO all­y on this and other topics of mutual imp­ortance," Nauert said

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