Yesterday, the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Ecuador to hold briefings with the Ecuadorian side regarding bilateral cooperation.
Ecuadorian Antiriot Police repressing peaceful protestors against the visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Ecuador/AFP JUAN CEVALLOS
On February 4th, the Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan carried out an official visit to Ecuador altogether with a group of businessmen of his country. The delegation arrived to Ecuador amidst a series of extreme security measures and a sort of secrecy on Wednesday.
The objective of the meeting between Erdogan and his Ecuadorian counterpart Rafael Correa was to enhance the relations between both countries and to continue with the negotiations of the Commercial Agreement for the Development (Acuerdo Comercial para el Desarrollo) that had been suspended for some time.
Agreements were signed and mutual benefit businesses came into effect after the meetings held not only by both leaders but also by the groups of businessmen that participated in the Ecuador-Turkey Business Forum.
However, that was not the only reason for the visit of Erdogan to Ecuador. The Turkish president also offered a conference about scientific and technological cooperation between both countries in the National Institute of High Studies.
Criticism for the unmeasured response of Erdogan’s security forces against pro-Kurds activists in Quito, Ecuador.
There was a lot of concealment in regards to the activities of the Turkish leader in the country for the opposition that people showed in response to his presence. And precisely, that was what happened inside and outside of the auditorium where the conference was taking place.
Protestors started to complain about Erdogan’s role in the “fight” against terrorism (more precisely against the Islamic State), about Turkey’s role in the financing of extremist groups, but most of all about the crimes committed against Kurds and any kind of resistance groups in his country.
Precise moment of the aggression of Erdogan’s security forces against female pro-Kurds activists inside of the auditorium of IAEN, Quito, Ecuador.
Repression of Erdogan’s personal security against protestors was unmeasured, as it was seen inside of the auditorium where a female protestor was physically mistreated and literally taken from her hair outside the facilities where, as it was reported, aggressions continued.
Disapproval reactions have risen in multiple fronts, like the National Assembly of Ecuador and the Ministry of Foreign Relations after the incident took place. Humanitarian organizations and media have denounced the coward overreaction of Erdogan’s security corps. And also, it must be taken into consideration if it was really necessary to deploy the military (heavily armed), and antiriot police to control a peaceful manifestation, besides that, it must be said that videos that had been released in diverse social networks about the despicable incident have been removed by now.
Written by Lisbeth Mechter
