ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish riot police launched round after round of tear gas against protesters Monday, the fourth day of violent demonstrations, as the president and the prime minister staked competing positions on the unrest.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected the protesters’ demands that he resign and dismissed the demonstrations as the work of Turkey’s opposition. But President Abdullah Gul praised the mostly peaceful protesters as expressing their democratic rights.
The two could face off in Turkey’s presidential election next year.
Turkey has been rocked by violent demonstrations since Friday, when police launched a pre-dawn raid against a peaceful sit-in protesting plans to uproot trees in Istanbul’s main Taksim Square. Since then, the demonstrations by mostly secular-minded Turks have spiraled into Turkey’s biggest anti-government disturbances in years.
Turkey’s main stock exchange dropped 10.5 percent Monday as investors worried about the destabilizing effect of the demonstrations.
The Turkish Doctors’ Association said one protester died after a vehicle slammed into a crowd in Istanbul, but the governor’s office insisted the man’s death was accidental. The doctors’ group also said eight people in Ankara were critically hurt.
Erdogan
believes the protests have a deeply political purpose.
“The protests weren’t about the squares or the trees; some parties were not happy about results of the elections,” Erdogan said late Monday while on a visit to Morocco. “The situation is a lot calmer now and reason seems to be prevailing. I think things will return to normal. These demonstrations are not all over Turkey, just in some big cities.”
In Washington, the Obama administration voiced concern Monday about Turkey’s crackdown on protesters, urging authorities to exercise restraint and all sides to refrain from violence.
Secretary of State John Kerry, who has traveled to Turkey three times since becoming America’s top diplomat, said the U.S. was following the situation closely and was troubled by reports of excessive force by the police. He also said Washington is “deeply concerned” by the large number of people who have been injured.
