ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish authorities on Monday arrested 15 members of an anti-American youth organization who physically attacked two US soldiers in the city of Izmir, state news agency Anadolu reported.
The agency reported that members of the Turkish Youth League, which is affiliated with the Patriotic Party – a small, nationalist political party with no parliamentary seats – were detained on the orders of a prosecutor.
The group posted a video of the incident on social media platform X, saying they placed bags over the heads of soldiers who had disembarked from the US Navy amphibious assault ship USS Wasp.
The video shows a group of men shouting, “Yankee go home!” as they grab a man and attempt to put a bag over his head.
“The American soldiers who have the blood of our soldiers and thousands of Palestinians on their hands must not defile our land,” the group said on X.
The U.S. Embassy confirmed the incident and said the service members aboard the USS Wasp were “now safe.” It thanked Turkish authorities for their “quick response and ongoing investigation.”
The USS Wasp arrived in Izmir on Sunday after conducting training exercises with Turkish attack ships in the Mediterranean Sea.