Norfolk-based USS Wasp service members assaulted in Turkey

İZMIR, TURKEY (WAVY) — U.S. service members aboard the Norfolk-based USS Wasp were victims of an assault in İzmir Monday, according to the U.S. Embassy in Turkey.

The U.S. Embassy there confirmed the reports.

“We thank Turkish authorities for their rapid response and ongoing investigation,” the U.S. Embassy in Turkey said in a post on X.

Reuters and the Associated Press reported that a nationalist anti-American Turkish youth group physically assaulted two U.S. soldiers in the city, according to the U.S. Embassy in Turkey and the local governor’s office.

The report noted that five U.S. soldiers joined in after witnessing the incident, and that police got involved. It said all 15 attackers were detained.

The USS Wasp had arrived in Izmire Sunday following joint training with Turkish assault ships in the Mediterranean Sea, AP reported.

The nationalist Turkish youth group, the Turkey Youth Union, affiliated with the small, nationalist Patriotic Party that does not hold any parliament seats, posted a video on X showing a group holding down a man who it said was a soldier aboard the USS Wasp, which had been on a port visit to Izmir this week, according to news reports.

The group posted a video of the incident on the X social platform, and said they put sacks over the heads of soldiers who had gotten off the USS Wasp, according to the AP. The video showed some men yelling, “Yankee go home!” while restraining a man and trying to put a ack over his head.

“We are troubled by this assault on U.S. service members and are appreciative that Turkish police are taking this matter seriously and holding those responsible accountable,” National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said.

Back in May, a landing craft from the USS Wasp was involved in an incident that left 30 sailors and Marines hurt. That incident involved two air cushion landing craft crews, one from the Wasp and the other from the USS New York off the coast of Jacksonville.

The USS Wasp is an 843-foot-long multipurpose amphibious assault ship, and is behind only the USNS Comfort when it comes to medical capabilities at ships based at Naval Station Norfolk.

The Norfolk-based assault ship entered the eastern Mediterranean Sea in late June and carries F-35 fighter jets as the U.S. positioned warships to try and keep fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon from escalating into a wider war in the Middle East.

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