--(thehill/voa) -- In the video, Erdogan emerges from a car in the driveway to watch the incident before heading inside the Turkish ambassador’s residence. His bodyguards are visible from Erdogan's car kicking and punching protesters.

Roughly two dozen protestors had gathered outside of the embassy to protest the Turkish leader’s policies.

Nine people were injured during the demonstration. The Turkish Embassy said on Wednesday that Erdogan's bodyguards were acting in "self-defense” during the incident and the protesters were affiliated with the terrorist group PKK. A protest leader denied that anyone involved had any ties or sympathies to the PKK.

The clash has been fiercely criticized by Washington, D.C., police and local officials who described it as a violent attack on peaceful demonstrators.

“We are communicating our concern to the Turkish government in the strongest possible terms," the State Department said Wednesday.

Erdogan was in Washington, D.C. to meet with President Trump.