WASHINGTON (A.W.)—Rep. Ted Poe (R-Tex.), who represents Texas’s 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives, condemned the May 16 attack on peaceful protesters, carried out by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s bodyguards in Washington D.C. Poe’s remarks were delivered on the U.S. House of Representatives floor on May 22.
“Turkish President Erdogan has brought his brutal crackdown on human rights to Washington, D.C. For years, Erdogan has attacked Turkey’s democratic institutions, undermined the rule of law, and violated Turkish civil liberties,” explained Poe, who also said that Erdogan was becoming a “Turkish dictator.”
“[Erdogan] is showing he doesn’t believe in the democratic principles of free speech and peaceful assembly. But, Madam Speaker, we will have no foreign tyrant violating these sacred rights on American soil without consequences,” Poe added.
Below are Poe’s remarks in full.
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Madam Speaker, it looks like Turkish President Erdogan has brought his brutal crackdown on human rights to Washington, D.C. For years, Erdogan has attacked Turkey’s democratic institutions, undermined the rule of law, and violated Turkish civil liberties.
On Tuesday, several bullies violently assaulted protesters outside the Turkish Embassy here in Washington. These Gestapotype body guards beat peaceful demonstrators, in one case kicking a woman lying on the ground.
This type of behavior is unacceptable. Erdogan is becoming a Turkish dictator. One of the traits of a dictator is to violently quash opposition.
He is showing he doesn’t believe in the democratic principles of free speech and peaceful assembly. But, Madam Speaker, we will have no foreign tyrant violating these sacred rights on American soil without consequences.
And that is just the way it is.
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Below is a video of Rep. Poe’s remarks.
Congressman Ted Poe is an empty-headed saber-rattler. Do not invest faith in his words. They are only meant to instill fear in the hearts of the voters in his district, so he can get re-elected and continue to do nothing in the US Congress.
It seems to me that the person who should be speaking out most of all about this attack is President “Big Man” Trump.
It is a disgrace that he is not doing so.
His Atty. General Jeff Sessions should have charged the Turks by now with assault. The identity of these Turks is obvious from the video.
The DC cops who did not arrest the Turks then and there did not do their duty.
People talk about “diplomatic immunity”.
That is sheer nonsense.
So, if one of Erdogan’s thugs pulled out an Uzi and went up to a few demonstrators and shot them in their heads, pulled out a pistol and aimed it a pregnant demonstrator’s belly, and then killed a couple of those DC cops for good measure, nothing could be done to that Turk, huh?
What, he’d walk free and take the next boat to Istanbul?
Maybe the entire Turkish entourage could have blown up the Lincoln Memorial and said “Ha, you can’t do anything to us?”
Erdogan really made Trump, the DC cops, and the US look stupid.
That idiot Trump, who thinks he is such a “leader”, just let Erdogan walk all over him like a cheap oriental rug.
US Government should consider a special law allowing these victims to file civil lawsuits against Turkey, its so-called president and his thug body guards. Also, the US Government should clear the way for prosecuting these criminals.