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| Defiant Turkish PM Erdogan urges end to protests | Defiant Turkish PM Erdogan urges end to protests |
| (33 minutes later) | |
| Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for protests across the country to end immediately. | Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for protests across the country to end immediately. |
| At Istanbul airport he told crowds of supporters who were welcoming him home from a four-day North Africa tour that the protests bordered on illegality. | At Istanbul airport he told crowds of supporters who were welcoming him home from a four-day North Africa tour that the protests bordered on illegality. |
| But as he spoke, thousands of anti-government protesters were also rallying in Istanbul's Taksim Square. | But as he spoke, thousands of anti-government protesters were also rallying in Istanbul's Taksim Square. |
| The unrest began as a local protest over a park in Istanbul but spiralled into nationwide demonstrations. | The unrest began as a local protest over a park in Istanbul but spiralled into nationwide demonstrations. |
| 'Common sense' | |
| An estimated 10,000 supporters of Mr Erdogan's AKP party descended on the airport to welcome him home in the early hours of Friday. | An estimated 10,000 supporters of Mr Erdogan's AKP party descended on the airport to welcome him home in the early hours of Friday. |
| Standing alongside his wife and government ministers on an open-top bus, he told the crowd: "I call for an immediate end to the demonstrations, which have lost their democratic credentials and turned into vandalism." | Standing alongside his wife and government ministers on an open-top bus, he told the crowd: "I call for an immediate end to the demonstrations, which have lost their democratic credentials and turned into vandalism." |
| Some of his supporters chanted: "Let us go, let's crush Taksim." | Some of his supporters chanted: "Let us go, let's crush Taksim." |
| However, Mr Erdogan urged them to "go home" peacefully. | However, Mr Erdogan urged them to "go home" peacefully. |
| "You have remained calm, mature and showed common sense," he said. "We're all going to go home from here." | "You have remained calm, mature and showed common sense," he said. "We're all going to go home from here." |
| It was the first major show support for Mr Erdogan following a week of protests in which his opponents have called for him to resign. | |
| The BBC's Mark Lowen in Istanbul says the rapturous welcome that the prime minister received shows the level of support he still commands. | |
| However, Mr Erdogan's words are likely to fan the flames of the protest, he adds. | |
| The divisions in Turkey look set to deepen in the days ahead and could be very dangerous indeed, our correspondent says. | |
| The original sit-in at Gezi Park last Friday spiralled into mass protests after police cracked down on activists defending the green space near Taksim Square from developers. |