The Turkish security guards clearly attacked the Armenian, Kurdish, Yezidi, and other human rights demonstrators, sending nine to the hospital, Congressman Jim Costa said in a statement on Thursday.

“Sadly, it appears that history may be repeating itself. Many of us in recent weeks have seen the movie “The Promise,” which is an accurate historical portrayal of the Armenian genocide that took place beginning in 1915 at the hands of the Ottoman Empire. In the movie, we witnessed the beginnings of these acts of atrocity with the depiction of young, Turkish men beating innocent people. As we know, modern-day Turkey has been unwilling as a country to acknowledge the genocide ever happened. We cannot allow Tuesday’s violent and illegal behavior by the Turkish security guards to go unaddressed,” he said.

Congressman described the actions of the Turkish security guards as “outrageous” and violating American law and values.

“The Turkish security guards must be held accountable.  Our American President should take appropriate diplomatic and legal action against these Turkish thugs for their violence towards the Armenian, Kurdish, Yezidi, and other human rights demonstrators. If he does so, I believe he will find overwhelming bipartisan support in the US Congress.”