Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday denounced the indictments in the United States of 19 people, among them 15 Turkish security officials, calling them "scandalous."
Erdoğan said his security detail was protecting him from members of the militant group after U.S. police failed to do so.
"The way how justice works in the United States is a real scandal, the United States is responsible for protecting their guests. If they are not able to fulfill their duties, then how my guards could not do their work when attacked by Kurdistan Workers' Party members? They fulfilled their duties," Erdogan told reporters.
He also accused Washington of providing support to the network of U.S.-based Fethullah Gülen, the Islamic preacher, one of the masterminds of last year's coup attempt.
"It is hard for me to understand what America wants to achieve by their actions. During the next visit, we will take about it with [U.S.] President [Donald Trump] about it separately, if the circumstances allow," Erdoğan said.
The 19 suspects have been accused of attacking peaceful demonstrators gathered outside the Turkish ambassador's Washington home during a visit by Erdoğan in May. Videos show Erdoğan supporters and security guards in suits and green uniforms hitting the protestors as police try to quash the violence. Some protesters are heard shouting "Baby killer Erdogan" and "Long live YPG," a Syrian Kurdish militant group that has become a sore spot in U.S.-Turkey relations.
