With Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan poised to meet with NATO leaders in Brussels today at the alliance’s yearly summit, local authorities fearing violence between his critics and supporters banned rallies near the Turkish leader’s hotel.
Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur told Belgian television, “We noticed that the Turkish protests became violent recently.” He also touched upon the mayhem unleashed by Erdogan’s security detail in Washington last week. Brussels is home to thousands of Turks and Kurds with sharply differing political views, so clashes were likely.