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Bodyguards traveling with the Azerbaijani president, who was visiting Washington for the inaugural meeting of Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, punched, kicked and chased protesters outside a Washington hotel on Thursday, video footage shows.
Demonstrators calling for the release of political prisoners were driven from the street near the motorcade of Ilham Aliyev, the Azerbaijani leader.
The clashes broke out outside the Waldorf Astoria on Pennsylvania Avenue, blocks from the White House, where Aliyev was staying during an official visit.
Aliyev has spent more than two decades crushing political opposition and dissent in Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan’s embassy defended its security personnel in a statement, alleging protesters had “violently attempted to enter the protected area and took offensive actions against the Presidential vehicle” as Aliyev’s motorcade approached the hotel.
“The Presidential Security Service had no choice but to immediately intervene,” the statement said, arguing that any attempt to obstruct a protected vehicle carrying a head of state “constitutes a serious security concern”.
The embassy also said its personnel “always operate in strict coordination with the host country”.
Protesters told a sharply different story. Rahim Yagublu, 27, an Uber driver whose father is a politician imprisoned in Azerbaijan, told the Washington Post he was struck in the jaw and kicked in the stomach. Adil Amrakhly, 35, said he injured his leg fleeing from the guards and that at least four others were hurt.
“We intended to hold a peaceful protest to demand freedom for political prisoners in Azerbaijan,” Amrakhly, who lives in Alexandria, Virginia, told the outlet.
Asked for comment, DC Metropolitan police and the US Secret Service referred questions to the state department, which referred questions back to the US Secret Service and the DC metropolitan police.
Earlier on Thursday, the US Secret Service told the Washington Post the hotel was “part of the event security perimeter” because that was where the Azerbaijani delegation was staying, with its role limited to establishing security infrastructure for visiting heads of state.
The incident drew immediate comparisons to a 2017 confrontation in Washington in which bodyguards for Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, attacked protesters outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence, injuring 11 people including a police officer. A similar altercation involving Erdoğan’s security detail had occurred the previous year outside the Brookings Institution.
Aliyev was in Washington for the first meeting of Trump’s Board of Peace, a new body the US president announced at Davos last month. Trump has described it as having “unlimited potential” to become “the most consequential international body in history”.
The gathering, focused primarily on the fragile Gaza ceasefire and colonial-envisioned reconstruction efforts for the devastated coastal strip, drew more than two dozen world leaders – though some US allies including France, Germany and Italy chose only to attend as observers.
Azerbaijan was among the countries Trump named as having contributed to a $7bn relief package tied to the initiative. On Wednesday, Aliyev posted on social media that he met with the chief executive of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), Elliot Brandt.
