Turkey PM hits back at protest criticism Friday

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday his Islamic-rooted government was open to "democratic demands" and hit back at EU criticism of his handling of a week of deadly unrest

Amid international condemnation over rights abuses in the unrest, European Union Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule told Erdogan that excessive police force "has no place" in a democracy, urging a "swift and transparent" probe into the abuses in Turkey, a longtime EU hopeful.
"Peaceful demonstrations constitute a legitimate way for these groups to express their views in a democratic society. Excessive use of force by police against these demonstrations has no place in such a democracy," Fule said at an Istanbul conference.
In response, Erdogan said he was against violence and accused European allies of double standards.
"In any European country, whenever there is a violent protest against a demolition project like this, believe me, those involved face a harsher response," the premier said at the same conference.
Turkey's protests began when police cracked down heavily on a peaceful campaign to save Istanbul's Gezi Park, spiralling into nationwide anti-government demos.
"I'm open-hearted to anyone with democratic demands," said Erdogan. "What we are against is terrorism, violence, vandalism and actions that threaten others for the sake of freedoms."
Earlier on Friday, thousands of cheering supporters of Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) welcomed the premier back from an overseas trip, their first public show of strength since the anti-government trouble erupted.
But in defiance of Erdogan's call for an "immediate end" to the protests, whistle-blowing, singing demonstrators packed Istanbul's Taksim Square, the epicentre of the movement, for an eighth night.
"Nobody wants to go home. Everybody wants freedom," said 22-year-old student Sertac Selvi.
In a high-profile boost to their cause, supporters of the protests raised more than $100,000 in an online fundraising drive to run a full-page ad in the New York Times Friday explaining why the demonstrators are so furious.
The ad, titled "What's Happening in Turkey?" and signed by the Gezi Democracy Movement, says during Erdogan's 10 years in power Turks have seen their civil rights and freedoms erode, with many journalists, artists and elected officials arrested.
Turkey's key strategic ally the United States and other Western powers have in recent days expressed concern about the police's use of tear gas and water cannon on the demonstrators, in clashes that have injured thousands and led to three deaths.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday joined calls for Ankara to renounce violence, saying she was "counting on the fact that these problems will be discussed with the youth of the country".
Stung by the criticism, Erdogan has likened the trouble in Turkey to the Occupy Wall Street movement that sprang up in the United States in 2011 and inspired copycat protests in European cities.
But the US embassy in Ankara wrote on its Twitter feed on Friday: "No US deaths resulted from police actions in #OWS."
-- EU bid on track --
NATO member Turkey has long sought to join the 27-member EU block but efforts have stalled in recent years, with reticence over the country's human rights record a key stumbling block.
But in a reassuring move, the EU's top official on the issue said the bloc was sticking by the country's membership bid.
"Let me... call on Turkey not to give up on its values of freedom and fundamental rights. And let me assure you that we, on our side, have no intention to give up on Turkey's EU accession," Fule said.
The national doctors' union says 4,785 people have been injured in the nationwide protests, 48 of them severely.
The unrest has also left three people dead -- two young protesters and a policeman, according to officials and doctors.
Critics accuse Erdogan of forcing conservative Islamic values on Turkey, a mainly Muslim but staunchly secular nation. They also say he has become increasingly authoritarian.
Opposition to the premier is intense, but the 59-year-old has won three elections in a row and gained almost 50 percent of votes in 2011, having presided over strong economic growth in recent years.
Supporters of Erdogan and his AKP party have stayed mainly silent as the protests raged, but they cut loose early on Friday, when they flocked to Istanbul's main airport to welcome the premier home in a sea of red and white Turkish flags.
"We will die for you, Erdogan," they chanted, threatening the liberal demonstrators with the refrain: "Let us go and crush them all."
After praising loyalists for showing restraint so far, Erdogan encouraged them to "go home".
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