On May 28, a small group of mostly young environmentalists gathered in Istanbul's Taksim Square for a sit-in to protest a planned demolition of walls, uprooting of trees and the perceived desecration of historical sites in the square's Gezi Park. The initially peaceful demonstration turned violent the night of May 30, when police tried to break up what had grown to more than 100 protesters. The environmental protesters were joined the next day by high-level representatives of the ruling Justice and Development Party's main opposition, the secular Republican People's Party. The message of the protests soon evolved from saving Gezi Park's trees to condemning Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his party for a litany of complaints. Anti-government chants included "Down with the dictator," "Tayyip, resign," and "Unite against fascism."
The protests grew rapidly when the weekend began, with more than 10,000 people gathering in Taksim Square on June 1. By that night, protests had reportedly spread to the cities of Izmir, Eskisehir, Mugla, Yalova, Antalya, Bolu, Adana, Ankara, Kayseri and Konya. Many of the areas where protests were reported are also areas where the Republican People's Party would be expected to bring out a large number of supporters. Konya, Kayseri and Ankara — strong areas of support for the Justice and Development Party — were notable exceptions. The largest protests, in Istanbul and Izmir, brought out predominantly young protesters in the tens of thousands. These protests will be highly significant if they grow to the hundreds of thousands, include a wider demographic and geographically extend to areas with traditionally strong support for the ruling party. However, though dissent is rising, at present Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party still have substantial support among the more conservative, rural Turks who make up the bulk of the country's population.
