Erdogan shows strength after fresh clashes

Turkey's defiant Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday rallied supporters after riot police clashed with thousands of angry anti-government protesters in a second week of civil unrest.
The flare-up of violence overnight raised pressure on Erdogan's Islamic-rooted conservative government, with demonstrators ignoring his call to end the protests that have thrown up the fiercest challenge to his decade of rule.
As chanting crowds again gathered in Istanbul and the capital Ankara, Erdogan went on a whistlestop tour of several Turkish cities to fire up supporters, urging them to respond to the demonstrations by voting for his Justice and Development Party (AKP) in next year's local polls.
"I want you to teach them a first lesson through democratic means at the ballot box," he said in the southern city of Adana, where he was greeted by a sea of loyalists waving red Turkish flags.
Adana was among the cities that saw clashes overnight, with police dousing demonstrators with tear gas. There were also reports of stone-throwing, pro-government rioters joining the fray.
The unrest first erupted on May 31 with a police crackdown on a campaign to save Istanbul's Gezi Park from demolition. The trouble spiralled into nationwide protests against Erdogan and his party, seen as increasingly authoritarian.