It was a tense start for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Washington for a nuclear security summit, as his security guards tussled with several journalists covering a speech.
Turkish security officials on Thursday tried to remove journalist Adem Yavuz Arslan from the Brookings Institution, the venue for Erdogan's speech. The policy institute's security guards intervened, asking the Turkish officials to leave the room.
Earlier, the officials had stopped the journalist - who works for opposition media - from entering.
A second Turkish journalist said Erdogan's bodyguards kicked him in the leg, injuring him outside the event and prevented him from attending. He said he was left bloodied by the kick to his leg and could not get by security to attend, although he was on the guest list.
Another journalist, Amberin Zaman, a former Turkey correspondent for The Economist, said the Turkish security detail called her a "PKK whore" as she was standing outside the event.
The PKK, or Kurdistan Worker's Party, is a Kurdish militant group that Turkey and the US classify as a terrorist organisation.
Erdogan is facing increasing criticism for his crackdown on free speech at home. Arslan has worked at outlets linked to US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, a strong critic of Erdogan. The government accuses Gulen of plotting to overthrow it and put him on trial in absentia last year.
Protesters, many criticising Turkish treatment of its Kurdish minority, gathered on Thursday outside the Brookings event before Erdogan's arrival.
In his speech, Erdogan addressed a wide array of foreign policy issues. He expressed optimism about improving relations with Israel and holding talks to reunify Cyprus.
He also criticised Western support of Kurdish rebels in Syria whom Turkey considers part of a terrorist group, and called for more Western funding to help Syrian refugees.
Erdogan repeated government assertions - widely criticised by international media freedom advocates - that no journalist is in prison or under prosecution because of journalism work.
Since Erdogan rose to power in 2002, several news outlets seized by the government have been handed over to businesses close to the party.
Tax inspections and tax fines have served to intimidate many media outlets, which fear falling afoul of the government. Journalists who are critical of the government have been fired.
More than a dozen journalists are in prison, although the government insists they have been jailed for criminal activity, not journalistic work.
The Washington-based National Press Club issued a statement criticising the Turkish security.
