ANKARA: Turkey summoned the US ambassador on Monday to protest “aggressive behavior” by American security personnel and “security lapses” during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Washington last week.
The key visit was marred by bloody clashes that took place outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence after Erdogan met American counterpart Donald Trump.
US officials and police have blamed Erdogan’s bodyguards for the incident, accusing them of attacking a small group of pro-Kurdish protesters gathered outside the building and the incident ignited a storm of controversy.
Witnesses at the scene last week confirmed this account to AFP, and on Monday the US State Department did not back down in the face of Turkey’s complaint.
“We can confirm the Turkish foreign ministry convoked our ambassador to Turkey to discuss the violent incidents involving protesters and Turkish security personnel on May 16,” spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.
“As we noted previously, the conduct of Turkish security personnel last week was deeply disturbing. The State Department has raised its concerns about those events at the highest levels,” she added.
Turkey blamed the violence on supporters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who picked on pro-Erdogan US-based Turks.
The Turkish ministry summoned John Bass, American ambassador in Ankara, to deliver a “written and verbal protest” over “the aggressive and unprofessional actions taken.”
The ministry accused US security personnel of acting “contrary to diplomatic rules and practices... toward the close protection team” of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in front of the Turkish embassy chancery in Washington.
“It has been formally requested that the US authorities conduct a full investigation of this diplomatic incident and provide the necessary explanation,” it added.
The ministry said it told Bass there were “lapses of security” during Erdogan’s stay.
It hit out at “the inability of US authorities to take sufficient precautions at every stage of the official program.”
However, the ministry said it emphasized to Bass that this would not overshadow an otherwise “successful and important visit.”
US Senator John McCain said that the Turkish ambassador should be thrown “the hell out of the United States of America” after the fighting.
“This is Erdogan’s security detail. Somebody told them to go out there and beat up on these peaceful demonstrators,” McCain said Thursday.
Turkey summons US envoy over ‘security lapses’ in Erdogan visit
Turkey summons US envoy over ‘security lapses’ in Erdogan visit
Israel confirms ban on 37 NGOs in Gaza
- UN has warned that this will exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory
- Several NGOS have said the requirements contravene international humanitarian law or endanger their independence
JERUSALEM: Israel on Thursday said 37 humanitarian agencies supplying aid in Gaza had not met a deadline to meet “security and transparency standards,” and would be banned from the territory, despite an international outcry.
The international NGOs, which had been ordered to disclose detailed information on their Palestinian staff, will now be required to cease operations by March 1.
The United Nations has warned that this will exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
“Organizations that have failed to meet required security and transparency standards will have their licenses suspended,” Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism said in a statement.
Several NGOS have said the requirements contravene international humanitarian law or endanger their independence.
Israel says the new regulation aims to prevent bodies it accuses of supporting terrorism from operating in the Palestinian territories.
Prominent humanitarian organizations hit by the ban include Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), World Vision International and Oxfam, according to a ministry list.
In MSF’s case, Israel accused it of having two employees who were members of Palestinian militant groups Islamic Jihad and Hamas.
MSF said this week the request to share a list of its staff “may be in violation of Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law” and said it “would never knowingly employ people engaging in military activity.”
‘Critical requirement’
NRC spokesperson Shaina Low told AFP its local staff are “exhausted” and international staff “bring them an extra layer of help and security. Their presence is a protection.”
Submitting the names of local staff is “not negotiable,” she said. “We offered alternatives, they refused,” hse said, of the Israeli regulators.
The ministry said Thursday: “The primary failure identified was the refusal to provide complete and verifiable information regarding their employees, a critical requirement designed to prevent the infiltration of terrorist operatives into humanitarian structures.”
In March, Israel gave NGOs 10 months to comply with the new rules, which demand the “full disclosure of personnel, funding sources, and operational structures.”
The deadline expired on Wednesday.
The 37 NGOs “were formally notified that their licenses would be revoked as of January 1, 2026, and that they must complete the cessation of their activities by March 1, 2026,” the ministry said Thursday.
A ministry spokesperson told AFP that following the revocation of their licenses, aid groups could no longer bring assistance into Gaza from Thursday.
However, they could have their licenses reinstated if they submitted the required documents before March 1.
Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli said “the message is clear: humanitarian assistance is welcome — the exploitation of humanitarian frameworks for terrorism is not.”
‘Weaponization of bureaucracy’
On Thursday, 18 Israel-based left-wing NGOs denounced the decision to ban their international peers, saying “the new registration framework violates core humanitarian principles of independence and neutrality.”
“This weaponization of bureaucracy institutionalizes barriers to aid and forces vital organizations to suspend operations,” they said.
UN Palestinian refugee agency chief Philippe Lazzarini had said the move sets a “dangerous precedent.”
“Failing to push back against attempts to control the work of aid organizations will further undermine the basic humanitarian principles of neutrality, independence, impartiality and humanity underpinning aid work across the world,” he said on X.
On Tuesday, the foreign ministers of 10 countries, including France and Britain, urged Israel to “guarantee access” to aid in the Gaza Strip, where they said the humanitarian situation remains “catastrophic.”
A fragile ceasefire has been in place since October, following a deadly war waged by Israel in response to Hamas’s unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Nearly 80 percent of buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged by the war, according to UN data.
About 1.5 million of Gaza’s more than two million residents have lost their homes, said Amjad Al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGO Network in Gaza.
