The Supreme Court turned away a request by Ankara to throw out lawsuits filed by protesters who say they were injured by Turkish agents outside its ambassador’s home in Washington during a 2017 protest against visiting President Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkey argued unsuccessfully that allowing the lawsuits to proceed would endanger both Turkish and U.S. officials outside their home countries.
The lawsuits came out of a May 6, 2017, incident in which Turkish security forces clashed with demonstrators who were protesting a visit by Erdogan, an authoritarian who is turning his country away from its traditional secularism.
Turkey joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1952 and is an ally of the United States.
The Biden administration had urged the Supreme Court to refuse to hear Turkey’s request to halt the lawsuits.
Erdogan was in the nation’s capital in 2017 for a visit with then-President Donald Trump. The physical conflict put a strain on relations between Turkey and the United States.
The agency added that the United States was communicating its concern with the Turkish government “in the strongest possible terms.”
Then-Rep. Edward Royce (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee at the time, said “agents of foreign governments should never be immune from prosecution for felonious behavior.”
Royce sent a letter to then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions demanding an investigation and criminal charges against the security agents.
Charges were reportedly brought in the District of Columbia against some of the Turkish security officials and others. Prosecutors withdrew charges against 11 agents in 2018, but two individuals who weren’t part of the security team entered guilty pleas.
Two lawsuits were filed in 2018 by 20 plaintiffs who sought tens of millions of dollars in damages from the government of Turkey after they suffered injuries in the clash outside the Turkish compound. Pro-Erdogan protesters were also present during the altercation.
“They continued striking protesters who lost consciousness, as well as one protester who suffered seizures. And they, along with the Erdogan supporters, ripped up the protesters’ signs. After several minutes, U.S. law enforcement was able to stop the attack. The protesters were left bloodied and disoriented, with concussions, lost teeth, and other serious injuries.”
Among those pushed back were people who supported the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization, which Turkey blames for 40,000 deaths and accuses of having attacked its officials and diplomatic missions, according to the petition.
“Turkey has the sad distinction of having had four diplomats assassinated by members of terrorist organizations on United States soil,” the petition states. Because of this, “the issue of security is an utmost priority during high-level visits.”
Turkey argued it is immune from suit because of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 and that a lower court ruling against it “threatens a massive disruption to United States foreign policy by burdening foreign security agents’ decision-making with the threat of vastly-expanded exposure to civil liability.”
The lower court decision endangers U.S. officials abroad, Turkey argued.
The ruling will make foreign leaders think twice about visiting the United States and jeopardize their security while on U.S. soil, the petition by Turkey stated. The decision “invites reciprocal erosion of immunity for U.S. security agents protecting American presidents, diplomats, and missions abroad.”
The unsigned order came on Oct. 31 in Republic of Turkey v. Usoyan (court file 21-1013). The justices offered no reasons explaining their decision not to take up the case.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson didn’t participate in the consideration of the petition, and the court didn’t explain why she refrained from doing so.
