Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday that extremists led by his political opponents in an attempt to overthrow the government are to blame for the recent protests in Istanbul and other cities.
However, the country’s president, Abdullah Gul (pictured left), called for peace from all sides, saying that protests and demonstrations are a natural part of democracy, according to the New York Times.
Though the protests began peacefully on May 28, clashes ensued when police aimed tear gas and water cannons at the demonstrators, fueling the anti-government sentiments across the country.
The first death in the disorder occurred on Sunday, reports the BBC. In the Mayis district of Istanbul, Mehmet Ayvalitas, 20, died after a taxi ignored warnings to stop, and instead drove through the crowd of demonstrators, hitting the young man.
The death was reported by the Turkish Doctors’ Union (TTB), which called for an end to violence, the police to be pulled back, and all those detained—at least 1,700 people—during the protests to be released, according to the BBC.
“If we set aside those that joined upon their innocent motives and information they got from the media, there are also ones that attended an event organized by extremists,” said Erdogan in a speech, also hinting that foreign provocation may be responsible.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has said that the US is closely following the demonstrations and is concerned by the alleged excessive force used by police, reports the Washington Post.
“The United States supports full freedom of expression and assembly, including the right of people to peaceful protest, because that is fundamental to any democracy,” said Kerry.
“We are concerned by the reports of excessive use of force by police. We obviously hope there will be a full investigation of those incidents and full restraint from the police force with respect to those incidents,” Kerry commented at a joint news conference with the visiting foreign minister of Poland. We urge all people involved ... to avoid any provocations or violence.”