Two US Marines who were attacked by a group of men in western Turkey are safe and were not injured during the incident, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
Members of a nationalist Turkish youth group on Monday attacked the Marines, who were on shore leave in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir in western Turkey after their ship, the USS Wasp, stopped for a port visit.
“The two Marines are safe,” Pentagon spokesman Maj Gen Pat Ryder said. “They were aided by other Marines in the area and subsequently taken to a local hospital for evaluation as precaution, but were not injured, and subsequently returned to the USS Wasp.”
Maj Gen Ryder said Izmir police and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service are co-operating in an investigation of the incident.
Footage posted on social media showed a group of men restraining the two Marines, who were in civilian clothes, at one point pulling a white hood or a shirt over the head of one of the service members.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Tuesday that the attack was “a serious matter” and that Washington appreciated the actions of Turkish police.
In a statement, the Izmir Governor's office said members of the Turkey Youth Union, a youth branch of the nationalist opposition Vatan Party, “physically attacked” the Marines, who were in the Konak district.
It added that five US personnel joined in after seeing the incident, and that police intervened. All 15 attackers had been detained and an investigation was launched into the matter, it said.
US-Turkey ties have been strained in recent years by the US alliance with Syrian Kurds that Turkey deems extremists, and over Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 missile defences that prompted US sanctions and removal from a F-35 jet programme.
There has also been a divergence over Israel's war in Gaza, where more than 40,800 people have been killed according to Gazan authorities, and over which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sharply criticised Washington's ally.
Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
Usain Bolt's World Championships record
2007 Osaka
200m Silver
4x100m relay Silver
2009 Berlin
100m Gold
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
2011 Daegu
100m Disqualified in final for false start
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
2013 Moscow
100m Gold
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
2015 Beijing
100m Gold
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
THE BIO
Favourite author - Paulo Coelho
Favourite holiday destination - Cuba
New York Times or Jordan Times? NYT is a school and JT was my practice field
Role model - My Grandfather
Dream interviewee - Che Guevara
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
Generation Start-up: Awok company profile
Started: 2013
Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 600 plus
Stage: still in talks with VCs
Principal Investors: self-financed by founder
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
AndhaDhun
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
