Videos of an attack at the Turkish House (Türkevi) in New York City emerged on Tuesday as Türkiye urged the United States to find the perpetrator.
A video released by Anadolu Agency (AA) clearly shows the assailant walking casually toward the building. Wearing a black hat and black clothes and carrying a crowbar he left at the scene, the man inspects a car parked outside the building before proceeding to smash the windows of the building housing Turkish diplomatic missions.
The incident at 3:14 a.m. local time on Monday was reported to the New York Police Department (NYPD). Police sealed off the entrance of the building and launched a probe.
Türkiye wants U.S. authorities to find “the terrorist” who attacked the Turkish House, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan urged Monday. Speaking at an event in Istanbul, the president said the U.S. needs to immediately find the terrorist and hold him/her accountable for the crime. Noting that the U.S. is responsible for the safety of the Turkish House, Erdoğan said the perpetrator must be found as soon as possible.
"In Europe, the (terrorist group) PKK has seen that things are getting worse, (and) they have started to attack the voters. They probably say that these voters are in favor of the People's Alliance. That's why they attack them." "What is more, they have attacked the Turkish House in America, just across from the United Nations (building) in the U.S., and broke the windows. Why? You were democrats. What do you gain by attacking the Turkish House, breaking its windows?" said Erdoğan.
"Now, aren't we going to tell the American authorities and security forces, 'You need to find this terrorist quickly, and you need to do what is necessary?' I wonder if a similar incident happened in Türkiye, how would you look at it?" he added.
Some media outlets reported it was an act of terrorism and pointed out that it occurred as voting for the second round of Turkish elections commenced for Turkish expatriates. The Turkish House hosts a polling station for overseas voters.
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu also said Türkiye expects immediate identification of the perpetrators of the attack on the Turkish House in New York, the country's dedicated building for diplomatic missions and cultural activities. "Today, a heinous attack was carried out against #TurkishHouse in New York," Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Twitter.
"We expect the U.S. to immediately identify the perpetrators & provide necessary protection to ensure the safety of our diplomatic missions," he added. "My thoughts are with my colleagues working relentlessly abroad for Türkiye, including this election period," Çavuşoğlu said.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams visited the Turkish House after the attack and spoke to the Turkish Consul General in New York Reyhan Özgür about the incident. Özgür told AA after the visit that they asked him to step up security measures in the building's perimeter.
Özgür said the location had a security guard booth before but it was removed, adding that they asked Adams to install it again for round-the-clock security.
The U.S. condemned the attack. "We condemn the vandalism. Violence against diplomatic missions within the United States is a punishable crime," said Matthew Miller, spokesperson for the State Department, at a press briefing on Monday.
Miller said the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service is working with local law enforcement authorities on the investigation.
The United Nations also denounced the attack and called on U.S. authorities to launch an extensive investigation into the incident. The deputy spokesperson for the U.N. Secretary-General, Farhan Haq, told AA that the global body condemns all attacks targeting diplomatic missions and that it expects the relevant authorities to launch an extensive investigation.
