Washington – It’s a tense start for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Washington for a nuclear security summit.
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Turkish security officials tried to remove a journalist at a policy institute where Erdogan is speaking.
Security guards at the Brookings Institution intervened, asking the Turkish officials to leave the room. Earlier, the officials had stopped the journalist — who works for opposition media — from entering.
Erdogan is facing increasing criticism for his crackdown on free speech. The journalist, identified as Adem Yavuz Arslan, has worked at outlets linked to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen — a bitter enemy of Erdogan.
Turkey’s government has moved to seize control of some media outlets linked to Gulen.
Protesters gathered outside the Brookings event before Erdogan’s arrival. A Turkish Embassy official declined comment.
