US House Foreign Affairs Committee Unanimously Condemned the Attack of Erdogan’s Bodyguards on Protesters

• 05.26.2017, 11:02
•  Diaspora

On May 25, the House Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously adopted H.Res.354 condemning the May 16 attacks on peaceful protesters by Turkish President Erdogan’s bodyguards, "calling for the perpetrators to be brought to justice and measures to be taken to prevent similar incidents in the future." Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.) and Ranking Democrat Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) were joined by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) in spearheading the Congressional effort, likely to be voted on in the full House in early June, Horizon Weekly reports. 

"The House Foreign Affairs Committee’s unanimous adoption of H.Res.354 represents a powerful bipartisan condemnation of Turkish President Erdogan’s attempts to export this brand of brutality to the United States," said Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "He and the regimes before him have gotten away with a century of genocide and repression—from the Armenians, Greeks and Assyrian in 1915 to the Kurds and other minorities today—through international intimidation, threats and coverups, and now violence on the streets of our nation’s capital. Congress and the Trump Administration need to send a strong message that this stops now."

Citing the details of the May 16th attacks by President Erdogan’s bodyguards on peaceful protesters, and noting that this is the third time similar incidents have occurred in the U.S., Chairman Royce noted "The rights of peaceful protest and free expression are fundamental values in any democracy. By passing this resolution we reaffirm our commitment to protect these rights against all who seek to suppress them."