Police arrest suspect in assault on Turkish home in New York

US police have detained a person accused of attacking the Turkish embassy in New York with a crowbar and breaking its home windows, police authorities stated.

Friday’s arrest got here amid sentencing from US and Turkish officers. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan referred to as on US authorities earlier this week to seek out the perpetrator, describing him as a “terrorist”.

The New York Police Division recognized the suspect in an e mail to Al Jazeera as 29-year-old Recep Akbiyik. He faces a number of expenses, together with tried theft, prison possession of a weapon, terrorist threats, prison mischief and threats, in keeping with a police spokesman.

Turkish media had beforehand reported that Akbiyik is a Turkish citizen who left Turkey a 12 months in the past. His motives stay unclear.

Footage shared by Turkey’s state-run information outlet Anadolu Company confirmed a person wearing black and sporting a hat hitting the glass facade of the constructing with a crowbar on Monday morning.

The ability, a skyscraper close to the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan, is called the Turkish Home. It homes the Turkish consulate within the metropolis and its mission to the UN.

The assault got here virtually per week earlier than the second spherical of Turkey’s presidential election between Erdogan and opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

Turkish expatriates in New York voted within the Turkish Home of Representatives elections this week. The vote in Türkiye will happen on Sunday. Erdogan got here first within the preliminary spherical of voting earlier this month however didn’t safe the bulk wanted for an outright victory.

In response to the assault, New York Mayor Eric Adams visited the Turkey Home on Monday and met with Turkish diplomats within the metropolis.

Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey’s international minister, additionally referred to as the incident an “heinous assault” on Monday.

“We anticipate america to right away establish the perpetrators and supply the mandatory safety to make sure the protection of our diplomatic missions. My ideas are with my colleagues who’re working tirelessly overseas for Turkiye, together with this election interval,” she wrote in a tweet earlier this week, utilizing the official Turkish spelling of the Turkish authorities.

The US State Division stated its Diplomatic Safety Service was working with native police on the investigation. “We condemn the vandalism,” spokesman Matthew Miller advised reporters.

Jeff Flake, the US ambassador to Turkey, additionally denounced the assault.

The USA and Turkey are NATO allies, however lately there was friction between the 2 nations, together with over Washington’s help for Kurdish teams in Syria.