Two US Marines from the USS Wasp were attacked Monday during a port call in Izmir, Turkey, according to a Navy spokesman.
The Marines, part of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, were “at liberty” at the time of the incident and were taken to a local hospital for evaluation as a precaution, said US Navy Cmdr. Timothy Gorman, spokesman for the US Sixth Fleet. The Marines have since returned to their ship.
“The local Izmir police and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service are cooperating in an investigation of the incident,” Gorman said. “No Marines have been arrested by authorities and those involved are cooperating with investigators.”
The Navy is not currently releasing more details about the nature of the incident, such as what the Marines were doing at the time or which suspects attacked them.
The USS Wasp is part of a naval expeditionary unit on routine deployment to the Eastern Mediterranean. The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit recently completed a bilateral training exercise with Turkey in the region.