WASHINGTON, DC—Supreme President Andrew C. Zachariades has issued a statement on Tuesday’s attack on peaceful protesters by Turkish president’s security detail in Washington, D.C.:

“AHEPA condemns the violent attack upon peaceful protesters perpetrated by members of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s security detail in Washington, DC, May 16, 2017. Their brutal actions are violations of fundamental rights under the Constitution of freedom of assembly, expression, and speech, and the perpetrators must be held accountable. In addition, there is an account that among the injured were two Secret Service agents. Unfortunately, this attack is a further illustration of the erosion of democracy in Turkey, which sadly, occurred on American soil. Moreover, we applaud members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, including Senator John McCain, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Dianne Feinstein, who is ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Congressman Ed Royce, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, among many other legislators, who have condemned the attack publicly, and we echo their calls for justice.”

Founded in 1922 in Atlanta, Georgia, on the principles that undergirded its fight for civil rights and against discrimination, bigotry, and hatred felt at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan, AHEPA is the largest and oldest grassroots association of American citizens of Greek heritage and Philhellenes with more than 400 chapters across the United States, Canada, and Europe.

AHEPA’s mission is to promote the ancient Greek ideals of Education, Philanthropy, Civic Responsibility, and Family and Individual Excellence through community service and volunteerism.