Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, "The police forces have passed the democracy test."
Speaking at Justice and Development (AK) Party parliamentary group meeting on Tuesday, Erdogan stated, some media organizations, both domestic and international, were prepared for the Gezi Park protests.
"The provocations were reflected as innocent environmental demonstration but it was actually a violence against the civilians and public properties," added Erdogan.
Responding to the criticisms about police's using tear-gas, Erdogan said, "Using tear gas on protesters is incontestable right of police. Police use their power when disobeyed and recalcitrated."
- "Respect to National Will" rallies
Expressing that people reacted to the acts of violence by "spoiling the game" at "Respect to National Will" rallies in Istanbul and Ankara at the weekend, Erdogan said, ""An unprincipled, immoderate movement that is based on lies and deception can not receive the backing of the people."
"They (the protesters) stood up for tree and envronment but they destroyed the cities, said Erdogan and added, "People and the Anatolia do not support these protests. Only the media, the capital and interest-rate lobbies support them.The protesters value labor no more than the puppets of the interest-rate lobbies do," said Erdogan.
"There are some provocateurs who try to play on sectarian divides. I call on all my brothers who belong to different sects: Please do not get deceived by these games. Be prudent; the happenings are a step towards undermining our national unity," he added.
Erdogan said he believed that Turkey would come out from that process much stronger.
He also announced that the rallies would continue in Kayseri on Friday, in Samsun on Saturday and in Erzurum on Sunday.
