Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s two-day visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina got off to a rocky start on Monday after a fracas erupted between his security team and local border police, authorities said.

Local media reported “pushing” and “verbal exchanges” after the president’s bodyguards refused to hand over their weapons on arrival at Sarajevo airport.

“They were aggressive and behaved as if they were in their own country,” chief of Bosnian border police Zoran Galic told the Dnevni Avaz news portal. “They did not respect our laws and deserved to be arrested.”

Border police said the confrontation ended when the Turkish leader stepped off the plane to greet waiting members of Bosnia’s tripartite presidency.

Close allies

Muslim-majority Bosnia was ruled by the Ottoman Empire for five centuries and shares strong ties with Turkey.

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