Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan called for an immediate end on Saturday to demonstrations by protesters who clashed with riot police in Istanbul for a second day. Erdogan vowed to push ahead with the re-development of the city's central Taksim Square, a plan which triggered the demonstrations, and said the issue was being used as an excuse to stoke tensions. "Every four years we hold elections and this nation makes its choice," Erdogan said in a speech broadcast on television and quoted by the Associated Press. "Those who have a problem with government's policies can express their opinions within the framework of law and democracy ... I am asking the protesters to immediately end these actions," he said. The protest at Taksim's Gezi Park started late on Monday after trees were torn up under the re-development plan, but has widened into a broader demonstration against Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP). Erdogan has overseen a transformation in Turkey during his decade in power, turning its economy from crisis-prone into Europe's fastest-growing, and remains by far the country's most popular politician.
