Bodyguards traveling with the Azerbaijani president, who was visiting Washington for the inaugural meeting of Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, punched, kicked and chased protesters outside a Washington hotel on Thursday, video footage shows.
Demonstrators calling for the release of political prisoners were driven from the street near the motorcade of Ilham Aliyev, the Azerbaijani leader.
The clashes broke out outside the Waldorf Astoria on Pennsylvania Avenue, blocks from the White House, where Aliyev was staying during an official visit.
Aliyev has spent more than two decades crushing political opposition and dissent in Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan’s embassy defended its security personnel in a statement, alleging protesters had “violently attempted to enter the protected area and took offensive actions against the Presidential vehicle” as Aliyev’s motorcade approached the hotel.
“The Presidential Security Service had no choice but to immediately intervene,” the statement said, arguing that any attempt to obstruct a protected vehicle carrying a head of state “constitutes a serious security concern”.
The embassy also said its personnel “always operate in strict coordination with the host country”.
Protesters told a sharply different story. Rahim Yagublu, 27, an Uber driver whose father is a politician imprisoned in Azerbaijan, told the Washington Post he was struck in the jaw and kicked in the stomach. Adil Amrakhly, 35, said he injured his leg fleeing from the guards and that at least four others were hurt.
“We intended to hold a peaceful protest to demand freedom for political prisoners in Azerbaijan,” Amrakhly, who lives in Alexandria, Virginia, told the outlet.
Asked for comment, DC Metropolitan police and the US Secret Service referred questions to the state department, which referred questions back to the US Secret Service and the DC Metropolitan police.
Earlier on Thursday, the US Secret Service told the Washington Post the hotel was “part of the event security perimeter” because that was where the Azerbaijani delegation was staying, with its role limited to establishing security infrastructure for visiting heads of state.
The incident drew immediate comparisons to a 2017 confrontation in Washington in which bodyguards for Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, attacked protesters outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence, injuring 11 people including a police officer. A similar altercation involving Erdoğan’s security detail had occurred the previous year outside the Brookings Institution
Posted by John3262005
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According to the article, the event is similar to events back in Trump’s first term but it was for a different government leader
*The accusations echo earlier incidents involving the security detail of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose guards in 2017 instigated violent clashes with protesters outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence in Washington. Eleven people were injured, among them a police officer. A year earlier, his detail scuffled with protesters outside Washington’s Brookings Institution.”*
I wonder if something similar happened here.
Don’t know what the Trump administration would do or say since Azerbaijan was among the countries Trump named as having contributed to a $7bn relief package tied to the initiative. So it will probably be nothing