Weapons deal in jeopardy after attack on protesters
Turkish president’s security guards may carry U.S. guns.
The day WASHINGTON — before armed guards from the Turkish president’s security detail violently attacked a group of peaceful protesters here last month, the State Department notified Congress of its intention to license the sale of $1.2 million worth of semi-automatic handguns to the security force.
Two weeks later, with mounting outrage over the episode among U.S. lawmakers and a continuing investigation by the State Department that could lead to criminal charges against some of the guards involved, the future of the sale now appears to be in question.
Though the State Department has not notified Congress whether or not it intends to withhold a license for the sale, it has met resistance from at least one senior lawmaker that could stall or even sink the transaction.
The attack has presented the State Department with a particularly thorny challenge, as it balances geopolitical interests with domestic concerns in coordinating a response. U.S. lawmakers have demanded the guards be held to account, while Turkey, a NATO ally and an active partner in the fight against the Islamic State, has all but denied the guards’ role in the skirmish. Several videos show the guards, many with pistols under their jackets, beating protesters.
State Department documents show the U.S. government would authorize Sig Sauer, the New Hampshire-based firearms maker, to sell some 1,600 semi-automatic pistols to a Turkish government-controlled intermediary, which in turn would sell them to the agency tasked with protecting the president.
Under the Arms Export Control Act, the State Department must approve all weapons exports. The department is required to notify Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate foreign affairs committees if the proposed sale exceeds certain monetary thresholds. In practice, the department does this in an effort to resolve lawmakers’ concerns before an intended sale becomes public.
In this case, the department gave the congressional leaders informal notification of the proposed sale on May 15. The next day, after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey was welcomed to the White House by President Donald Trump, several of his guards unleashed a violent attack on the protesters who had gathered outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence to protest Erdogan.
Video showed Erdogan watch the scene play out, as nearly a dozen people were injured, some seriously.
In the days after the brawl, at least one of the lawmakers, Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, wrote back to the department expressing concern about the sale.
Given Cardin’s stature and the attention the attack has received on Capitol Hill, his objection could potentially stall the licensing process or prompt the State Department to cancel the sale.
If the State Department were to proceed, issuing a formal notification to Capitol Hill that it intended to sign off on the sale, lawmakers would have 15 days to intervene.
Sig Sauer sought to sell 1,600 semi-automatic pistols to the men guarding the Turkish president.