US soldier mobbed by Turkish nationalist youth group, two detained

ADANA – Doğan News Agency

DHA photo

Two members of the nationalist Turkish Youth Union (TGB) were detained after trying to put a sack over a U.S. soldier’s head at the İncirlik Air Base in the southern province of Adana on April 16. 

Footage of the incident shows TGB Adana Provincial Head Yalçın Semir Akarsu chasing the U.S. soldier and attempting to put a sack over his head.

“You put a sack over our soldiers head in 2003. You are responsible for that and for the terrorism in our country,” Akarsu can be heard saying in the footage, referring to a notorious 2003 incident when a group of U.S. soldiers staged an operation against Turkish soldiers based in Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq, taking 11 Turkish soldiers hostage and putting sacks on their heads.

“Bombs are exploding every day. Every day we receive news of martyred soldiers. You are responsible for that. You cannot leave your base, but we can come to your prison and we are putting this sack over your head,” Akarsu added. 

Akarsu and Cenk Kızılırmak, who recorded the incident on camera, have been detained after Turkish soldiers intervened at the scene. 

Akarsu and Kızılırmak were taken to the police headquarters after medical checks. 

They were at the İncirlik Air Base in order to participate in an event marking Turkey’s April 23 National Sovereignty and Children’s Day. 

TGB General Secretary Sinan Sungur said they had been waiting to stage such an act for two years and the April 23 event gave them the “opportunity” to do so. 

A similar incident took place on Nov. 12, 2014, when a group of TGB members attacked NATO soldiers stationed in Istanbul’s touristic Eminönü district, putting sacks over their heads and throwing dye over them.