Protesters spend the night at Taksim’s Gezi park in Istanbul on June 10, 2013.<\/p>\n
Turkish protesters have taken full control of Istanbul’s Gezi Park as anti-government protests, which have already left four people dead, entered their 11th day.\n<\/p>\n
Protesters in Istanbul are now in control of a large area near the city\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s Taksim Square, barricading the roads leading to their tents and forcing police to completely withdraw from the site.\n<\/p>\n
Turkey’s opposition Republican People’s Party leader has called on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to stop escalating tensions.\n<\/p>\n
Kemal Kilicdaroglu said Erdogan is “trying to hold on to power by creating tensions” and is “throwing society into the fire.”\n<\/p>\n
On Sunday 1, Erdogan made a series of speeches warning that there’s a limit to his patience, demanding an end to the protests, and threatening to hold those who don’t respect his government to account.\n<\/p>\n
He has also called major pro-government rallies in Ankara and Istanbul next weekend.\n<\/p>\n
The anti-government protests in Turkey were triggered by the police violence against an environmental protest in Istanbul\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s Taksim Square on May 31.\n<\/p>\n
The protests soon spread to dozens of cities across Turkey and solidified into calls for Erdogan\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s resignation.\n<\/p>\n
On Saturday, leader of Turkey\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s opposition Nationalist Movement Party Devlet Bahceli called for early elections in order to overcome the current turmoil.\n<\/p>\n
Erdogan has faced international condemnation for his handling of the crisis and the Turkish police have been criticized strongly for using excessive force against peaceful protests.\n<\/p>\n
Amnesty International has also censured the Turkish police for the tactics they used to control the protests.\n<\/p>\n
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