Two off-duty Marines assigned to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit were assaulted by a group of men on a busy street in Turkey over the weekend, according to a video of the incident posted on social media and a spokesperson for U.S. Sixth Fleet.
The Marines were on a regularly scheduled port visit to Izmir, Turkey, on Sunday when a group -- reported to be the Turkish Youth Union, according to The Associated Press -- attacked the service members, forcing a bag over one of their heads. Turkish authorities arrested 15 people allegedly involved in the assault, the wire service reported.
The U.S. Embassy in Turkey said that the Marines are "now safe" and thanked Turkish authorities for their "rapid response" and investigation in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday.
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"The two Marines were aided by other Marines in the area and were subsequently taken to a local hospital for evaluation as a precaution but were not injured and have returned to the USS Wasp," Cmdr. Timothy Gorman, a U.S. Sixth Fleet spokesperson, said in a statement sent to Military.com on Monday. "Local Izmir police and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service are cooperating in an investigation of the incident."
"No Marines have been detained by authorities and those involved are cooperating with investigators," he added. One Marine shouted for help multiple times as the crowd grabbed the pair of service members.
The Turkish Youth Union posted a video of the assault on social media claiming responsibility for the attack on the service members, who are part of the Wasp Amphibious Ready Group, which includes the USS Wasp. The 24th MEU is currently aboard the Wasp ARG on a "routine deployment" in support of deterrence during the Israel-Hamas war.
The youth group is associated with a nationalist political party in Turkey, according to the AP.
While Turkey and the U.S. are NATO allies, Istanbul -- particularly Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan -- has been critical of Israel amid the war. The incident Sunday appeared to be motivated by the conflict and U.S. involvement, according to the Turkish Youth Group's social media post.
"U.S. soldiers, who carry the blood of our soldiers and thousands of Palestinians on their hands, cannot defile our country," the group said on social media.
In 2014, the same group threw red dye on and forced bags over the heads of three U.S. sailors on liberty in Istanbul, Military.com previously reported. They were disembarked from the destroyer USS Ross at the time.
Neither the Marine Corps nor the Navy responded by press time to questions about whether the incident would affect service members' ability to take leave in Turkey.
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