On Monday a mob of Turkish men attacked American soldiers who had been walking the streets of Izmir in southern Turkey, apparently as the US personnel were on liberty after the USS Wasp which they are attached to made port call.
Social media video shows a group of men surrounding one US soldier and while violently constraining him. The Turkish men then stick a white bag over his head in an effort to humiliate and possibly kidnap the American and those with him. The brief clip then shows a couple more US troops jumping in to push the Turkish men off their fellow soldier.
Reuters has confirmed of the incident, "A nationalist Turkish youth group on Monday physically assaulted two U.S. soldiers in western Turkey, the U.S. Embassy in Turkey and the local governor's office said, adding that 15 assailants had been detained over the incident."
The same report says that a total of five other US soldiers quickly came to their fellow servicemember's aid to fight off the attackers, after which local police quickly intervened.
The US Embassy in Turkey has subsequently confirmed the American personnel are safe after the incident, "We can confirm reports that U.S. service members embarked aboard the USS Wasp were the victims of an assault in Izmir today, and are now safe," it said on X. There was no mention of injuries.
The Izmir governor's office identified that the attackers were part of an ultra-nationalist group called the Turkey Youth Union (TGB), which is associated with the opposition Vatan Party. The statement said that the Turkish group "physically attacked" two American soldiers who were in civilian clothes in the Konak district.
The assaulting group reportedly chanted "Yankee, go home!" while detaining at least one of the Americans. It all happened in broad daylight.
The UK Mirror details of the USS Wasp's weekend port call:
The USS Wasp arrived in the port of Izmir on Sunday for a scheduled visit, with sailors and marines taken on tours organised by the ship’s Morale, Welfare, and Recreation team during while it is docked. Previously on a scheduled deployment to Europe, the Wasp was recently sent to the Mediterranean and Middle East amid rising tensions between Hezbollah and Israel along the border with Lebanon, and had made a stop in Turkey. It marked the first time that the Wasp had operated in the Mediterranean region since being moved back from Sasebo, Japan to Norfolk, Virginia in 2019.
Turkish journalist and regional correspondent Ragıp Soylu described that it was "A payback in their understanding for US soldiers placing sacks over Turkish soldiers operating in Northern Iraq almost 20 years ago."
It appears that the whole incident then turned into an anti-American demonstration, and involved US Marines which the crowd tried to detain or essentially kidnap:
One commenter said that it is time to "kick Turkey out of NATO" and provided additional details as follows:
Second US soldier comes in trying to help his comrade but disengages shortly after receiving several punches - likely fearing an escalation, aware of the mob-mentality and readiness to use excessive violence by these elements of the Turkish society. Incident happened in the tourist area of Izmir close to the harbour where the USS Wasp aircraft carrier of the US navy is anchored.
However, Turkish investigators have yet to given an official motive. Likely it could also be connected with events in Gaza. Turkish-Israeli relations have of late reached a low point in modern history, and it is well understood in the region that US-supplied bombs and aircraft aid in Israel's Gaza operations.
Such an attack on a group of American service personnel is incredibly rare in Turkey, which is a NATO country, given also the presence of several US military installations attached to bases in the country, and frequent US Navy port calls.
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