By Tom Rogan
Thursday, May 18, 2017
The United States Secret Service is history’s finest
protection force. Its Turkish equivalent is a joke.
This week, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to
Washington, D.C., proved why. On Tuesday, the Turkish Presidential Protection
Department (for simplicity, hereafter referred to as the TPPD) attacked
peaceful U.S. protesters on U.S soil.
Watch
the following video. It shows TPPD officers launching a coordinated attack
on pro-Kurdish protesters outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence.
Now, it’s true that protection agencies sometimes have
misunderstandings. In 2004, for example, Chilean security officials learned the
error of separating a U.S. president from his Secret Service protection
detail. In the same way, Russia’s Presidential Security Service doesn’t
like to be kept from its protectees. The Russians, however, are saints compared
to the TPPD. After all, this isn’t the first time the TPPD has disgraced
itself. Not by a long shot.
Last year, TPPD officers attacked journalists outside the
Washington-based Brookings Institution. A Secret Service agent had to restrain
a TPPD officer from attacking protesters. During another U.S. visit, the TPPD
decided to push Secret Service agents assigned to Erdogan’s detail. In a 2015
visit to Brussels, a TPPD officer attacked a Belgian government bodyguard. In
2009, the TPPD entered President Obama’s inner protective bubble. In 2011,
then–prime minister Erdogan’s detail attacked security officers at U.N.
headquarters. Thuggery is a prerequisite for Erdogan’s protection details.
These incidents don’t take place in a vacuum. On the
contrary, they are a metaphor for Turkey’s descent from Islamic democracy into
Islamic autocracy. As Erdogan centralizes power and attacks his opponents, the
TPPD has morphed from law enforcement into suited thuggery.
Still, in this latest incident — a premeditated assault
on the U.S. constitutional right to peaceful protest — the TPPD has crossed a
line. It, and the Turkish government more broadly, must face consequences for
their actions. For a start, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson needs to show
public anger. Outdoing yesterday’s placid semi-condemnation from the State
Department, Tillerson should summon the Turkish ambassador and call out
Turkey’s breach of U.S. law. Tillerson should also — and specifically — note
the TPPD’s ludicrous hypocrisy. On its website, the TPPD takes care to outline
“human rights” and diplomatic-communications training as key priorities. I’m
not joking.
Second, the U.S. should ban the TPPD officers who were
involved from entering the United States. Their faces can be cross-referenced
with their visit credentials in order to identify them. Ramazan Bal, the TPPD’s
commanding officer, should be included in their number. Bal was head of
ministerial security when Erdogan was prime minister, before following him to
the presidential palace. He clearly retains Erdogan’s trust and confidence. Yet
the sustained misconduct by Bal’s officers suggests that he either is totally
incompetent or is directing these acts. Erdogan will whine. Let him.
Third, the U.S. government should suspend all training
exercises with Turkish protection agencies. Seeking their unparalleled
facilities and expertise, foreign governments frequently send protection teams
to train with U.S. government agencies. For example, according to Turkish
media, the TPPD’s attached counter-assault team (which is responsible for
repelling attacks) was trained by the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security.
The key here is the pursuit of broader strategic effect.
Enacted quickly and unapologetically, each of these actions would prove to
Erdogan that America is no longer willing to tolerate his antics. Erdogan must
understand that his anger, for example, over President Trump’s decision to arm
Kurdish forces in Syria is ill-directed against U.S. citizens.
Turkey is an important U.S. ally, but Erdogan is not
America’s overlord. The TPPD and its master must be corralled.
No comments:
Post a Comment