Why were American soldiers attacked in Istanbul?
A group of ultra-nationalist TGB (the Youth Union of Turkey) members attacked American soldiers (from Nato) in Eminonu district of Istanbul on Wednesday and placed hoods over their heads. The group also threw red paint during the attack.
Protestors shouted: “You said that you are a member of the U.S. army. We define you as murderers. We want you to leave our land,” before physical engagement with the soldiers.“Yankee Go Home,” “Damn American Imperialism” slogans were also shouted by the TGB group during the attack.
The US Embassy in Ankara condemned the attack in a statement released on its Twitter account immediately after the incident was heard.
The TGB is known for its advocacy of the principles of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkey, and Kemalism, and has taken part in the ruling anti-AK Party protests throughout Turkey.
This event is considered to be a sort of retaliation for the incident caused by soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Iraq on July 3rd 2003. It is referred to as “The Hood event”) which took place following the 2003 invasion of Iraq where a group of Turkish military personnel operating in northern Iraq were captured, led away with hoods over their heads, and interrogated by the United States military. The soldiers were released after sixty hours, after Turkey protested to the United States.
Though neither side ever apologized, a US-Turkish commission set up to investigate the incident later issued a joint statement of regret. In addition, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wrote a letter to the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressing sorrow over the incident. The Hood event damaged diplomatic relations between Turkey and the United States and marked a low point in US-Turkish relations. While the incident received comparatively little coverage in the United States, it was a major event in Turkey, many of whose citizens saw it as a deliberate insult and nicknamed it “The Hood event”. (Wikipedia)
SOURCE: MEDIA
