Turkey PM hits back at protest criticism
June 08, 2013  01:00
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said today his Islamic-rooted government was open to "democratic demands" and hit back at EU criticism of his handling of a week of deadly unrest. 

Amid international condemnation over rights abuses in the unrest, European Union Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule told Erdogan that excessive police force "has no place" in a democracy, urging a "swift and transparent" probe into the abuses in Turkey, a longtime EU hopeful. 

"Peaceful demonstrations constitute a legitimate way for these groups to express their views in a democratic society. Excessive use of force by police against these demonstrations has no place in such a democracy," Fule said at an Istanbul conference.
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