The U.N. makes us think of lots of things (diplomats, platitudes, architecture), but physical altercations are not normally one of them. And yet now video has surfaced from last week's General Assembly showing an all-out, eh, scuffle inside the U.N. which seems to have started when Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was shoved by a United Nations security Guard.
Details on what exactly caused the scuffle (which led to an apology from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon apologized and the suspension of six security guards) are inconsistent but here's what the Times' thinks went down:
Mr. Erdogan was having a private meeting with President Jalal Talabani of Iraq when he heard that the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, was about to make his speech demanding full United Nations membership for a state of Palestine.
Mr. Erdogan rushed toward the hall where Mr. Abbas was to speak, but the prime minister found himself at an entrance to a crowded visitors gallery, and United Nations guards refused to let him in. He tried to enter anyway and, by most accounts, Mr. MacFarquhar reported, a guard pushed him.
The ensuing fight sent one guard to the hospital with a rib injury, and there were unconfirmed reports of bloodstains on the floor.
The Post was less careful in the way it described the fight, finding a source who said the Turks "acted like thugs. United Nations security isn’t allowed to use force, and the Turkish staff had diplomatic immunity.”
A spokesman for Ki-Moon says the incident was caused by "unfortunate misunderstandings" and that "necessary action was taken to prevent such misunderstandings in the future." Which is a very diplomatic way of saying "shit got out of hand and people are going to get canned."
