US repeats criticism on ‘brutality’

WASHINGTON

The confrontation between U.S State Secretary John Kerry and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu over the Turkish police’s harsh stance on protesters was not as severe as reported, Washington has said, repeating its criticism over “police brutality.”

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said June 5 that the two statesmen continued to have “a very positive working relationship,” the Washington Post reported.

But Psaki said Kerry and others at the State Department “don’t hold back when there are concerns” and that “we have had concerns over the past couple of days about instances of police brutality, and we continue to call for, of course, the acceptance of peaceful protests” in Turkey, the newspaper reported on its website.

Davutoğlu reproached on June 5 his U.S. counterpart over four different statements that have come from Washington.

“These sorts of incidents happen everywhere and they are considered unexceptional. Then why are they regarded as extraordinary when happening in Turkey?” Davutoğlu said in response to statements from Kerry. Davutoğlu phoned Kerry on June 5, reportedly telling him that “Turkey is not a second-class democracy,” according to an Agence-France Presse report.