Its all in the name of democracy.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won 3 elections for Prime Minister of Turkey, each time with increasing mandate.  When he first became prime minister in 2002 Turkey was in deep recession with inflation at 34.9%, debt to the IMF of $23.5 billion and unemployment of over 10%. He engineered 26 successive quarters of growth at an average rate of 7.3% which brought down inflation to 5.7% in 2011, increased central bank reserves from $26.5% to $92.2 billion and brought down IMF debt to just $0.9 billion. Unemployment is down to 8.2%. As his power has grown he has become increasingly autocratic and has been slowly turning Turkey into an Islamic state. He brought in a law allowing women to wear head scarves in offices and university, he wants every woman to have at least 3 children and has made abortion difficult to obtain and has recently banned drinking of alcohol in public places. In May 2010 he encouraged a flotilla of ships to try to break Israeli blockade of Gaza. Israeli commandos were attacked when they boarded the ships and 9 people died. Erdogan broke off relations with Israel and has called Zionism a " crime against humanity ". He has actively encouraged Sunni Syrian rebels against the Alawite Assad regime which has enraged Iran. Hundreds of journalists have been arrested, top army officers have been imprisoned after an alleged coup, there is a nationwide filter on the internet and, when students demonstrated for free education, hundreds were arrested and charged with being members of illicit, extralegal organisations. However it was a park in Istanbul that has brought thousands of people out in protest. Erdogan wants to tear down Taksim Square and build a mosque and rebuild Ottoman era barracks. When people protested police responded with heavy tear gas and water canons. A picture of a young woman wearing a red dress and red shoes with a white bag slung over her right shoulder, her hair billowing as she is tear gassed by a policeman wearing a protective gas mask, looking like a Star Wars storm trooper, has become an icon of the protests. Like all leaders Erdogan has responded with anger. " This is a protest organised by extremist elements," he said. " We will not give away anything to those who live arm-in-arm with terrorism." Exactly what Bashar al-Assad says. What Abhisit Vejjajiva said when Thai soldiers opened fire on Red Shirt protesters killing 25 on 10 April 2010. What the Congress said when the Delhi police brutally beat up sleeping supporters of Baba Ramdev at 2 in the morning killing one woman on 4 June 2011. Death for protesters. All in the name of democracy.