The unprecedented assault on American democracy Jan. 6 will naturally have global ramifications and its predictable consequences do not bode well for the leaders around the world who have been embraced by outgoing President Donald Trump. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is one of them.

Turkey's call for “moderation” on both sides as the riots were unfolding on TV came as a shock to many in America. Andrea Mitchell, senior Washington correspondent for NBC, reacted to the statement with outrage. Mitchell said Turkey’s statement was ironic, coming from a country with such a poor record on human rights and freedom of press. 

Mitchell said the reaction was "beyond shocking" while quoting a tweet by Turkey’s parliament speaker, who had called for tolerance and moderation to prevail in Washington. Alleging that Turkey is a country run by a "dictator,” Mitchell recalled how closely Erdogan and other authoritarian leaders across the world were embraced by Trump.

The Turkish reactions came while Turkish police were brutally dispersing a peaceful demonstration in Turkey’s Bogazici University, where students were protesting Erdogan’s appointment of a member of his ruling party to head the prestigious institution. The police handcuffed the gate to the campus to prevent students from assembling on the university grounds. Pictures of the handcuffed gate have become a metaphor for repression and autocratic rule in Turkey.