Ankara 'concerned' as Armenian group disrupts Turkish event in US
LOS ANGELES
A conference organized by Türkiye in Los Angeles, California, turned chaotic when a group of Armenians disrupted the event, leading to concerns expressed by the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
The disturbance occurred following the opening speeches of an event attended by Turkish, U.S., and Azerbaijani officials. While Türkiye's ambassador to Washington, Hasan Murat Mercan, was addressing the audience, one protester verbally confronted Ramil Gurbanov, Azerbaijan's consul general in Los Angeles.
The protest, which lasted around 10 minutes, was quelled by campus security and local police, who removed the demonstrators from the venue. Meanwhile, outside the conference, protesters attempted to disrupt the proceedings by generating noise.
After the event concluded, Şeref Ateş, head of the Yunus Emre Institute, Türkiye's Los Angeles Religious Services Attache İsmail Demirezen, and Saner Ayar, an executive at TV production company O3 Media, faced both physical and verbal attacks outside the venue.
The conference's guest list also included Wilson Center Middle East Program head and former U.S. ambassador to Türkiye, James Jeffrey, Yunus Emre Institute U.S. Director Gökhan Coşkun and several other figures.
In response to the protests and disruptions, Ankara issued a statement on Sept. 30 expressing its concerns over radical diaspora groups resorting to hate speech that may incite violent actions against Türkiye, Azerbaijan, the Armenian government, and regional peace.
The statement read, "It is worrying that the hate language of radical diaspora groups, which target our country and Azerbaijan, and more recently the Armenian government and the peace process in the region, has turned into violent acts. We will initiate the necessary legal process against those who physically attack our delegation."
