Despite Turkey having been a member of NATO for over 70 years and seemingly a U.S. ally, American servicemen were violented attacked on Monday in a video that has gone viral. 

In July, Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, threatened military action against Israel, a key partner of NATO in the Mediterranean region.

In response to Erdoğan’s threats, Dutch leader Geert Wilders said Turkey should be expelled from NATO. 

“Islamofascist Erdoğan threatens to invade Israel. This guy is totally nuts. Turkey should be kicked out of NATO,” Wilders posted on X.

Despite experts saying the strategic relationship between the U.S. and Turkey is over and “the two no longer share overarching threats or interests that bind them together,” the country officially remains a “critical regional partner” of the U.S.

“Turkey is a key NATO Ally and critical regional partner, and the United States is committed to improving the relationship between our two countries. It is in our interest to keep Turkey anchored to the Euro-Atlantic community. Turkey is an important U.S. security partner. Turkey has been a valued North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Ally since 1952,” reads the fact sheet on U.S. and Turkey relations from the State Department. 

The New York Post reports on the attack on the two U.S. service members in the port of Izmir. Here’s the start of the story: 

Two US service members were attacked in Turkey on Monday by a group of anti-American protesters during a violent, caught-on-camera confrontation.

The shocking 10-second clip — which was posted to X— captures one of the servicemen victim standing in the center of a half-dozen men who are seizing him by the arms and torso.

Online reports identified the man as a serviceman from the USS Wasp, who had just docked in Turkey, and that the incident occurred in the Turkish port city of Izmir.

The attackers chanted, “Yankee, go home!” as one assailant wrapped a bag around the unidentified victim’s shaved head.

A man outside the group rushed in to try to thwart the attack and wrestled with an older assailant in glasses while another attacker ran up and threw a weak punch into the intervener’s shoulder.

Turkish authorities detained 15 members of the Youth Union of Turkey for the assault, which the group also posted to its own X account.

“US soldiers, who carry the blood of our soldiers and thousands of Palestinians on their hands, cannot defile our country,” the group said in the post, according to Stars and Stripes.