Violence flares again on fourth day of Turkish protests

Clashes erupted in Istanbul between a group of demonstrators and police early Monday on the fourth day of violence set off by a brutal police crackdown on a peaceful environmental protest.

The private Dogan news agency said police fired tear gas at the group in an area close to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Istanbul offices. The protesters responded by hurling stones.

The agency said as many as 500 protesters were detained overnight after police broke up a protests by several thousands of people in the capital Ankara. Turkey’s Fox television reported 300 others detained in a similar crackdown in Izmir, Turkey’s third-largest city.

The demonstrations, growing out of anger over excessive police force, have spiraled into Turkey’s biggest anti-government rallies in years in a challenge to Erdogan’s power.

Earlier, Europe and the US called on both sides to exercise restraint and enter into dialogue to resolve the situation.

European Union foreign policy head Catherine Ashton expressed “deep concern at the violence that occurred in Istanbul and some other cities in Turkey, and regrets disproportionate use of force by members of the Turkish police,” Ashton’s office said in an official statement.

Ashton “hopes for a speedy recovery of all those injured, and calls for restraint on all sides and an end to the violence. Dialogue should be opened to find a peaceful solution to this issue,” the statement continued.

The EU statement echoed that of the White House, which on Sunday night called for all parties in Turkey to “calm the situation.” In a statement, spokeswoman Laura Lucas said the US believes peaceful public demonstrations “are a part of democratic expression,” and she said Turkey’s long-term stability is best guaranteed by upholding “the fundamental freedoms of expression, assembly and association.”

The White House statement called on the Turkish security forces in particular to “exercise restraint.”

Over the past three days, protesters around the country have unleashed pent-up resentment against Erdogan, who after 10 years in office many Turks see as an uncompromising figure with undue influence in every part of life.

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.

Turkey’s prime minister rejected claims that he is a “dictator,” dismissing protesters as an extremist fringe, even as thousands returned to the landmark Istanbul square that has become the site of the fiercest anti-government outburst in years.

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.”

Under Erdogan’s leadership, Turkey has boosted economic growth and raised its international profile. But he has been a divisive figure at home, with his government recently passing legislation curbing the sale of alcohol and taking a strong stand against the Syrian regime that some believe has put security at risk.

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. The Turkish Doctors Association said the three days of demonstrations have left 1,000 people injured in Istanbul and 700 in Ankara. Earlier claims of two fatalities in the clashes were discounted.

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.

Erdogan reiterated that his government would not back away from plans to uproot trees at Taksim as part of his urban renovation plans for the area. In a statement that could cause more controversy, he also declared that a mosque would be built at Taksim.

The mosque plans have long been contentious because it would further shrink the green spaces in Istanbul’s city center. Some argue that there are already plenty of mosques around Taksim.

“I am not going to seek the permission of the (the opposition) or a handful of looters,” Erdogan said.

He also defended his government’s environmental record, saying it had planted two billion trees and built 160 parks since coming to office in 2002.

In Berlin, meanwhile, about 500 people staged a peaceful solidarity protest outside the Turkish Embassy.

“The people are finally standing up, speaking up and fighting for their rights,” said Hakan Tas, a deputy for the Left Party in Berlin’s local assembly, who took part in the protest.

In Greece’s second largest city, Thessaloniki, 1,000 people, many of them Turkish students, marched peacefully to the Turkish consulate, shouting slogans against Erdogan. Police blocked them from reaching the building.

Tel Aviv, too, saw a protest against the Turkish violence on Sunday night.