ISTANBUL: A group of nationalist Turkish youths yesterday attacked three visiting US sailors in Istanbul, trying to force sacks on their heads in an assault angrily condemned by the US embassy.
Several dozen members of the nationalist youth group Turkiye Genclik Birligi (Turkish Youth Union) attacked the sailors in the Eminonu district on the Istanbul waterfront, a popular tourist hub.
They sought to force white sacks onto the heads of the sailors, who were in civilian dress, and chased them across the quayside, shouting “Yankee Go Home” and “Down with US Imperialism”.
The use of hoods was a reference to an incident from the 2003 Iraq war that outraged many in Turkey when US forces in northern Iraq arrested a group of Turkish soldiers, forced hoods on their heads and held them for three days. The incident inflamed nationalist sentiment in Turkey and formed the basis of the smash-hit 2006 film about Turkish agents in Iraq “Valley of the Wolves: Iraq”. The group said that the sailors were from the USS Ross destroyer, which was moored in Istanbul after returning from military exercises in the Black Sea.afp
