A growing number of lawmakers want Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to expel Turkish officials from the United States in response to an attack on protestors outside Turkey’s embassy in Washington D.C.
“Allies do not threaten U.S. troops and allies do not attack U.S. citizens on American soil,” Florida Republicans Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Gus Bilirakis wrote in a letter Thursday to the Trump administration.
The letter, signed by 40 House Democrats and Republicans, reflects deep desire for retribution against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following a violent clash during his latest trip to the United States. Erdogan watched as members of his security detail attacked anti-Erdogan protestors outside the embassy, an assault captured video that outraged American officials. The State Department offered a verbal condemnation of the violence, but House and Senate lawmakers want a more substantive response.
“Our country was founded on the right to free speech and this Memorial Day we’ll honor the many men and women who have died protecting this right,” Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., one of the signatories, said Friday. “It’s unacceptable for any other country to threaten this constitutionally-protected right and it should never be tolerated. These individuals should be identified and brought to justice.”
The letter proposes that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Attorney General Jeff Sessions take a series of steps, such as expelling Turkish officials who were involved in the attack.
“Turkish personnel based in the U.S. who were involved in the attacks should be declared persona non grata and expelled from the U.S. immediately,” they wrote. “Turkish personnel not based in the United States who were involved in the attacks should be barred from entry into the U.S. in the future. Foreign nationals who cannot respect the rule of law of this great country should not be allowed to enjoy the rights and privileges it affords.”
A declaration that a foreign official is persona non grata (PNG) is a dramatic rebuke in international relations. For perspective, then-President Barack Obama’s administration declared 35 Russian officials persona non grata as part of the sanctions imposed in response to the cyberattacks against the Democratic party during the 2016 elections.
The U.S. ability to punish Erdogan for the violence is hampered by the fact that Turkey is a critical NATO ally in the fight against ISIS and, over the long term, in checking Russian aggression. But Erdogan has led his government in an increasingly authoritarian direction, while warming up relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
