US clears way for Turkey to stand trial after Erdogan’s goons attack protesters in Washington

Very close to the final end are the continuous appeals filed by the Turkish government with the aim of overturning the decisions made by the American judiciary on the violence against protesters in Washington. It is recalled that in 2017, his security men Recep Tayyip Erdogan they had attacked and violently beaten peaceful protesters outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence and then engaged in skirmishes with American secret police personnel.

The Turkish side had appealed to the Supreme Court, as it had asked to review the decisions made by both the Washington District Court and the Court of Appeals, which had ruled that the violence carried out by the Turkish president’s security personnel did not require immunity and therefore, US courts have jurisdiction to hear the actions brought.

However, the US government categorically rejected the basis of Turkey’s legal argument and recommended to the Supreme Court through its legal representative (solicitor general) to reject this request and thus open the way for the trial of the case. It is worth noting that according to legal circles today’s opinion of the legal representative is considered to play a decisive role and to be taken seriously by the Supreme Court, which is expected to issue its final decision soon.

The lawsuit was filed by American citizens against not natural persons but against the Turkish state. For its part, Turkey argued that it needs immunity and therefore the specific incident cannot be brought before the Washington District Court.

At first instance level, the District Court had ruled that the criteria for immunity were not met. The Turkish side, however, appealed with the main argument that the specific actions were taken for reasons of protection of the president, who was on the steps of the embassy residence. Given that the case involved the involvement of a foreign government, the judges sought the opinion of the three competent government agencies (Ministry of Justice, State Department, Secret Police).

This was followed by the joint opinion filed by memorandum in the District Court of Washington. In this text, the US Department of Justice in collaboration with the State Department and the Secret Service concluded that Turkey does not meet the criteria for immunity provided for in the “Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act” (FSIA). Justifying their rationale, the three agencies argued that the acts in question were not done for reasons of protection of the Turkish president and therefore do not enjoy the immunity provided by the relevant provisions of the law.

It is worth noting that leaders from the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee had sent a letter to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken asking him to clarify that Turkey does not have immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. (FSIA).

Washington Court of Appeals’ Final Ruling Takes Turkey to the Supreme Court

In a final and unanimous decision, the Court of Appeals of the city of Washington rejected Turkey’s request for a review of the decision it had taken on the violence that had occurred against Kurdish protesters. It is recalled that in 2017, the security men of Recep Tayyip Erdogan had attacked and violently beat peaceful protesters who were outside the residence of the Turkish ambassador and had then been involved in skirmishes with the personnel of the American secret police.

At the trial level, the Washington District Court had ruled that the criteria for immunity were not met. Then, after Turkey appealed, the three judges of the Court of Appeal who heard the case came to the same conclusion. However, the neighboring country decided to exhaust all legal tools at its disposal, asking all 10 judges of the Court of Appeal to review the decision. However, he had no luck this time either, and now the rejection of the specific request means that the appeal to the Supreme Court is the only way for Turkey.

Expressing his satisfaction, the expatriate lawyer Andreas Akaras had stated to APE-MPE that “the rejection of the said request is another blow to the efforts made by Turkey to avoid the responsibility it bears for the shameful actions of Mr. Erdogan and of his bodyguards”.