Turkey protests: Erdogan rejects EU criticism

Turkey must investigate the excessive use of force by police against anti-government protesters, a senior EU official has said in Istanbul.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele was speaking ahead of talks on Turkey's ambition to join the EU.

In response, Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan said similar protests in Europe would be dealt with more harshly.

Turkey has seen a week of civil unrest sparked by a police crackdown on a local protest over an Istanbul park.

Fresh clashes between protesters and police broke out in the Istanbul suburb of Gazi on Friday evening, Reuters reported.

Demonstrators hurled stones at police who responded with smoke grenades.

Hundreds of anti-government protesters are still camped in Istanbul's Taksim Square and correspondents say further demonstrations are expected over the weekend.

Mr Fuele and Mr Erdogan were both speaking at a conference in Istanbul on Turkey's relations with the EU.

The EU enlargement commissioner said the EU had no intention of giving up on Turkey's accession, but Turkey had to maintain values of freedom and fundamental rights.

He urged a "swift and transparent" investigation and those responsible should be held to account.

"Peaceful demonstrations constitute a legitimate way for groups to express their views in a democratic society," he said.

"Excessive use of force by police against these demonstrations has no place in such a democracy".

In response, Mr Erdogan accused the EU of double standards, saying police in Europe and the US used the similar methods.

"Similar protests have taken place in Britain, France, Germany and bigger ones in Greece," he said.

His government was open to "democratic demands", he added, but would not accept "terrorism, violence and vandalism".

The Turkish leader also complained about the slow pace of the EU accession process, saying Turkey faced "unjust obstructions".

Human rights concerns have always been an important obstacle to Turkey's membership bid, along with the division of Cyprus and other issues.

The BBC's Mark Lowen in Istanbul says the pull of the EU has waned considerably in Turkey in recent years.

When accession talks began in 2005, over 70% of Turks were in favour of joining; now, some polls put support at just 30%.

Many Turks see a bloc unwilling to welcome a large Muslim-majority nation to the east, especially with the opposition of founding EU members such as France, our correspondent says.

The Turkish government has acknowledged that police used excessive force against the original protest over the planned redevelopment of Gezi Park in Istanbul, near Taksim Square.

But they say the wider protest movement that ensued in cities across the country has been hijacked by extremists.

On Thursday night Mr Erdogan was welcomed back to Turkey by thousands of cheering supporters who waited at the airport to greet him.

It was the first major show of support for Mr Erdogan following a week of protests in which his opponents have called for him to resign.

Four people, including a police officer, are reported to have died since the protests began, with thousands more hurt and hundreds arrested.

The government says more than 500 police officers are among the injured.

The protesters accuse Mr Erdogan's government of becoming increasingly authoritarian and trying to impose conservative Islamic values on a secular state.

His Justice and Development Party (AKP) has governed Turkey since 2002, winning successive election victories.