Kicked, punched protesters
Choked, slammed woman
Rushed, punched protesters
Punched and kicked a man
Punched a protester
Kicked man on ground
Knocked over women, kicked man
Kicked man on ground
Cousins
Kicked woman on ground
The State Department has condemned the episode, and some American lawmakers have called for the men to be prosecuted. But none have been charged with a crime. Here’s what video of the main actors shows about the identities of the men and the roles they played in the clash.
Men in Dark Suits
Rushed, punched protesters
Rushed, punched protesters
Kicked, punched protesters
Kicked man in head
Choked, slammed woman
Punched and kicked man
Punched a protester
Punched, kicked a protester
Punched, kicked two protesters
Kicked man on ground
Ten of the men who attacked protesters appear to be part of a formal security detail. They dressed in dark suits, and they wore in-ear radio receivers, Turkish breast pins and lanyards with identification cards. At least four of the men carried guns.
Two of these men charged protesters and appeared to start the main part of the fight.
V.O.A. Turkish
We used five camera angles to track the movements of these two men throughout the melee. One man’s identity card shows Turkish and American flags and Turkey’s presidential seal, suggesting he is a member of the delegation visiting the United States.
V.O.A. Turkish
Sayid Reza Yasa, the man with the bullhorn seen below, was lying on the ground when two of these men kicked him in the torso and face.
V.O.A. Turkish
At one point, as many as four of the men were attacking the same protester.
Pouyan Boakei
Another guard choked Ceren Borazan, 26, a protester, and slammed her to the ground. “He was saying ‘You are dead,’ ” Ms. Borazan told The Times in an interview. “I felt so awful. As a woman, as an American, as a Kurd. Right now I don’t even feel safe here.”
The identities of these men are unclear. But Turkey’s state-owned news wire, Anadolu Agency, which filmed the violence, reported that “the president’s security detail and Turkish police” were involved in the fight.
A representative at the Turkish Embassy in Washington declined to comment on the people involved in the violence. In a statement last week, the embassy said that the protesters caused the violence by “aggressively provoking” Turkish-American citizens who had gathered to greet the president and had responded in self-defense.
Men in Khaki
Punched several people
Kicked man on ground
Knocked over women
Repeatedly punched woman
Punched protesters
Punched a protester
Six men who attacked protesters wore outfits resembling a summer uniform worn by Turkish guards – khaki pants, black T-shirts and green or brown shirts. Here are three of them:
V.O.A. Turkish
These three men charged at protesters. One man knocked two women to the ground, and another man repeatedly punched Lucy Usoyan, a protester, as she lay on the ground. The third man kicked Mr. Yasa after he was thrown to the ground moments earlier.
V.O.A. Turkish
In this video, which was taken after the fight had been broken up, four of the men stand around, and one of them is arguing with a Washington police officer.
V.O.A. Turkish
Three members of this group of men rushed into the melee, attacking at least three protesters.
V.O.A. Turkish, Pouyan Bokaei
Civilian supporters of Erdogan
Kicked woman on ground
Kicked protester on ground
Punched protester repeatedly
Kicked man and woman
Kicked two protesters
Kicked woman on ground
Punched a protester
Kicked man on ground
Some of the attackers identified themselves as supporters of Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who were visiting Washington to meet him. Most dressed casually and did not appear to be armed, and their connection with the Turkish security detail, if any, is not known.
But they played a central role in the fighting. Two of these men, Alpkenan Dereci and Sinan Narin, were involved at the very beginning, when they pushed and punched protesters they met in the street.
Mr. Dereci, who was wearing a yellow T-shirt in this video, joined the skirmish, repeatedly punching a man. A protester then struck him with a bullhorn, leaving a gash on his face.
V.O.A. Turkish
Mr. Narin, who owns a property in Virginia, said protesters ripped his shirt and threw bottles at him. “The fight started with me,” Mr. Narin wrote in Turkish on Facebook.
He posted video to Facebook that shows his shirt ripped and his face bloodied, matching footage taken from farther away.
Pouyan Bokaei, Sinan Narin via Facebook
After the fight grew, Mr. Narin followed security guards and repeatedly kicked one protester, Ms. Usoyan, on the ground. A Washington officer then escorted him back across the street.
V.O.A. Turkish
In an interview, Mr. Narin acknowledged kicking the woman on the ground. “I wasn’t paying attention,” he said. “I thought it was a man. I would never kick a woman.”
He said he was trying to defend himself. The protesters were “terrorists,” he said, who started the fight by punching and spitting on him when he tried to get them to “calm down.”
The second man, Alpkenan Dereci, traveled to Washington from Toronto with his cousin Ahmet C. Dereci, according to a report on TRT, the Turkish state broadcaster. A video shows the man identified as Ahmet dressed in a purple T-shirt, punching and kicking a protester when the second attack broke out.
V.O.A. Turkish
A third man, Eyup Yildirim, is seen on video telling police he is a cousin of Alpkenan Dereci. “I’m an American citizen and a taxpayer,” he said. He repeatedly kicked Ms. Usoyan, 34, as she lay on the ground. According to New Jersey records, Mr. Yildirim is 50 and manages three companies in that state.
V.O.A. Turkish
Mr. Yildirim, Alpkenan Dereci and Ahmet C. Dereci did not respond to requests for comment.
In an interview, Ms. Usoyan said that she had sustained a concussion, and that a doctor had authorized six weeks off from work for recovery. “I’m glad I’m alive,” she said.
The President’s Entourage
Head of Security
Kicked, punched protesters
Took instructions
Turkey’s president, Mr. Erdogan, watched the brawl from a black Mercedes-Benz sedan parked nearby, at the Turkish ambassador’s residence. His role in the clash, if any, is unclear. But video of his entourage shows that at least one member of the security detail positioned next to him rushed into the fight and started kicking and punching protesters.
While sitting in the car, Mr. Erdogan conferred with Muhsin Kose, his head of security, who leaned into the car’s rear door. After speaking with Mr. Erdogan, Mr. Kose talked into his earpiece, and three security personnel who were guarding the president’s car hurried toward the protest.
V.O.A. Turkish
The brawl began moments later, and one of these men, a heavy-set bald man, appeared on video punching and kicking people.
V.O.A. Turkish
Mr. Kose talked to Mr. Erdogan throughout the brawl. Two of Mr. Kose’s colleagues met on the lawn as the brawl ended and return to the car, and then Mr. Erdogan left his car and entered the ambassador’s residence.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images, V.O.A. Turkish
Several minutes elapsed between the earlier scuffle on the street and Mr. Erdogan’s arrival, during which the police separated the groups and Turkish security personnel remained behind police lines. A few seconds after Mr. Kose spoke into his earpiece, the men charged.
“Ten bodyguards, they just crossed the street,” said one of the protesters, Ceren Borazan.
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