[ti:Turkey Protesters Say Erdogan Supporters Attacked Them in Washington] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]The United States is expressing concern over a clash [00:05.52]involving protesters and supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. [00:14.87]The clash happened Tuesday in Washington, D.C., [00:21.04]near the home of Turkey's ambassador. [00:25.08]Erdogan had met with President Donald Trump at the White House earlier in the day. [00:33.36]Parts of the clash were caught on video by VOA's Turkish Service. [00:41.68]State Department official Heather Nauert said in a statement [00:47.60]the U.S. concerns would be communicated to the Turkish government [00:52.88]"in the strongest possible" way. [00:57.28]"Violence is never an appropriate response to free speech, [01:02.68]and we support the rights of people everywhere [01:07.46]to free expression and peaceful protest," the statement said. [01:15.44]VOA's Turkish Service said the protesters were supporters [01:22.08]of Selahattin Demirtas, a jailed pro-Kurdish lawmaker. [01:29.26]Turkish officials arrested him in November on terrorism-related charges. [01:37.88]Rights groups condemned his arrest as part of a government crackdown on dissent. [01:47.16]The protesters said they were demonstrating peacefully [01:52.00]until Erdogan's guards and supporters suddenly moved toward them. [01:59.12]Video shows men wearing dark suits and others hitting and kicking protesters. [02:08.60]Police appeared to struggle to keep the two groups separated. [02:15.12]At least 11 people were injured in the violence. [02:20.36]Two arrests were made and Washington, D.C. police said other suspects were being sought. [02:29.40]Police said they were checking reports that some of the attackers [02:34.32]worked as bodyguards for the Turkish president. [02:40.00]Turkey's embassy blamed the violence on groups linked [02:44.72]to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) – a group fighting the government. [02:52.80]An embassy statement said the group had "aggressively provoked [02:59.04]Turkish-American citizens" who had gathered to greet Erdogan. [03:05.09]Washington's police chief, mayor and several U.S. lawmakers condemned the violence. [03:13.92]Senator John McCain, a Republican, urged the Trump administration [03:20.56]to expel the Turkish ambassador over the incident. [03:26.28]I'm Bryan Lynn. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM