Turkey's prime minister has rejected claims that he is a "dictator," dismissing protesters as an extremist fringe, even as thousands returned to the landmark Istanbul’s Taksim Square.
News has now emerged that a protestor has been killed. It is all extremely worrying – especially coming from a country that aspires to join the European Union.
Over the past days, protesters around the country have unleashed pent-up resentment against Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who after 10 years in office many Turks see as an uncompromising figure with undue influence in every part of life.
A huge, exuberant protest in Taksim Square subsided overnight, but an estimated 10,000 people again streamed into the area on Sunday, many waving flags, chanting "victory, victory, victory" and calling on Erdogan's government to resign.
About 7,000 people took part in protests in Ankara, the capital, that turned violent on Sunday, with demonstrators throwing fire bombs and police firing tear gas. Scores of protesters were detained.
Some protesters have compared Erdogan to a sultan and denounced him as a dictator. Scrambling to show he was unbowed and appealing to a large base of conservative Turks who support him, Erdogan delivered two speeches on Sunday and appeared in a television interview.
With Turkish media otherwise giving scant reports about the protests, many turned to social media outlets for information on the unrest.
"There is now a menace which is called Twitter," Erdogan said. "The best examples of lies can be found there. To me, social media is the worst menace to society."
The behaviour of the Turkish government, and the way that the police are handling the protests gives rise to serious worries over Turkey’s credentials as an EU candidate nation.
It must all be put into context. Turkey has lashed out at Syria for the atrocities being committed there, but the behaviour of its own government and own law enforcement agencies leaves a lot to be desired. The EU’s concerns about Turkey were in relation to its track record on human rights abuses – amongst other things. If foreign (CNN, Sky etc) news reports are to be taken as faithful, then it is pretty obvious that there is abuse going on right now as we speak.
The White House statement in particular called on security forces in Turkey to "exercise restraint."
The demonstrations were ignited on Friday by a violent police crackdown on a peaceful sit-in to prevent the uprooting of trees at Taksim Square in Istanbul and have since spread around the country.
Interior Minister Muammer Guler said some 1,750 people had been detained since Tuesday, but most had since been released.
Erdogan called the protests "ideological" and manipulated by an opposition "unable to beat (the government) at the ballot box." He said 89 police vehicles, 42 private cars, four buses and 94 businesses were destroyed by the "vandalism" of the past two days.
Alluding to his party's strong base, Erdogan said he had the power to summon much larger numbers of his supporters at rallies. "Our supporters are calling and saying 'are we going to stay silent?' but I am urging calm," he said in an interview with Haberturk television. Is this the way that a potential EU leader should speak? No. Turkey’s application should be put on hold until there is a clear signal that more is being done to respect the rights of citizens and to uphold the rule of law.