Nine protesters injured after Trump-Erdogan meeting: report

Nine people were injured Tuesday during a protest outside the Turkish Embassy on Washington’s Embassy Row as President Trump hosted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House, The Washington Post reported.

About two dozen demonstrators gathered for the event in protest against Erdogan’s policies. Nine people who were injured were taken to hospitals, with at least one in serious condition, according to the report.

D.C. police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck said that two people were arrested during the incident outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence on Sheridan Circle NW. Area traffic was backed up for some time, while initial reports described the event as fighting between two opposing groups of demonstrators.

{mosads}Tuesday’s demonstration began with a march to the embassy from the 2500 block of Massachusetts Avenue.

Erdogan is staying at Blair House, across from the White House, during his stay and was not present at the embassy during the commotion.

Last week, the Turkish leader strongly criticized Trump’s decision to arm Syrian Kurds in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

“I hope very much that this mistake will be reversed immediately,” he said. “We want to believe that our allies would prefer [to] be side by side with ourselves rather than with the terror groups.”

The Syrian Democratic Forces is a coalition of Arab and Kurdish fighters that has been working to isolate the city, but Ankara considers the group terrorists and an extension of outlawed Kurdish insurgents in Turkey.