Protesters stand atop a pile of rubble during clashes with Turkish police outside of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's office, near Taksim Square in Istanbul, on Monday, June 3. The protests began as a demonstration against the planned demolition of Gezi Park and have grown to general anti-government dissent also spilling into the capital, Ankara. 
Turkish riot police fire tear gas canisters to disperse protesters near Taksim Square on June 3. 
Police officers tend to a demonstrator during the violent clashes in Istanbul on June 3. 
A protester waves the Turkish flag from a rooftop at Taksim Square on June 3 as large crowds continue to demonstrate below. 
A protester wears a gas mask as smoke from a burned car fills the air at Taksim Square on June 3. 
Despite Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's call for calm on Monday, June 3, protests continued in Istanbul. Protesters carry the Turkish flag and shout against the government in Gezi Park near central Istanbul. 
After protests that lasted until the early morning, a protester sleeps in a damaged and vandalized vehicle in Taksim Square on June 3. Protests showed no sign of letting up on Monday, almost a week after a peaceful sit-in was met with a police crackdown, igniting the biggest anti-government riots the city has seen in a decade. 
A tired protester rests in front of the graffiti-sprayed wall of an information booth at Taksim Square in central Istanbul on June 3. 
Turkish protesters clash with riot police near the prime minister's office between Taksim and Besiktas early June 3. 
Protesters drive an excavator toward Turkish riot police as they make their way to Erdogan's office on June 3. 
During the clashes, volunteer doctors helped injured protesters in a mosque on June 3. 
A protester is silhouetted by a burning car at Taksim Square during clashes in the early morning of June 3. 
A protester covers his face on June 3 near Erdogan's office in Istanbul. 
Protesters clash with riot police in Istanbul on June 3. 
Protesters gather in Taksim Square in Istanbul on Sunday, June 2. 
Riot police fire tear gas during a protest against Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling AK Party in central Ankara on June 2. Sparked by the events in Istanbul, general anti-government protests have sprung up in Ankara. 
Demonstrators hide behind makeshift shields during clashes with Turkish riot police in Ankara on June 2. 
Police use a water cannon to disperse protesters outside Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's working office in Istanbul on June 2. 
Protesters cling to a police vehicle mounted with a water canon in Istanbul on June 2. 
Turkish police detain a protester during demonstrations in Ankara on June 2. 
A protester flashes a victory sign as he takes part in a demonstration in Ankara on Saturday, June 1 in support of the protests in Istanbul against government plans to demolish a park. 
Protesters clash with riot police in Istanbul, Turkey, on Saturday, June 1. 
Protesters clash with riot police near Gezi Park on June 1. Earlier this week, several dozen activists tried to stage a sit-in at the park, the last bit of green space left in Istanbul's Taksim Square, the city's transit and commercial hub. 
Turkish protesters wearing gas masks face off against riot police near Istanbul's Taksim Square on June 1. 
Riot police use tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowd of demonstrators on June 1. 
A man flees the clashes between Turkish protestors and riot police on June 1. On Friday, May 31, riot police stormed the growing camp in Gezi Park with water cannons and tear gas, pushing protesters into surrounding streets and triggering the clashes that have continued for more than 24 hours. 
The clashes damaged surrounding businesses in Istanbul and forced them to close on June 1. 
A man catches his breath behind the line where clashes are taking place on June 1. 
A pair of tourists gasp for air as riot police use tear gas and water cannons the fend off the demonstrators. Turkish security forces allowed small groups of pedestrians to travel through the square. 
Protesters buy gas masks from a local shop near the square on June 1. 
Riot police fire tear gas into the crowd of protesters overnight on Friday, May 31. 
Demonstrators set up barricades and build a fire as they clash with Turkish officers on May 31. 
Friends carry an injured protester on May 31. More than a dozen people have been injured in the clashes. 
Riot police use tear gas and water cannons to disperse a crowd at Taksim Square on May 31. 
An activist wearing a gas mask is enveloped in a cloud of tear gas on May 31. 
A crowd scatters during clashes on May 31, as one demonstrator throws back the tear gas canister that was launched by riot police. 
Protestors brace themselves as they are fired upon with a water canon by Turkish police forces. 
A large group of demonstrators gather to protest the demolition of Gezi Park in Taksim Square on May 31. 
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- Nationwide anti-government protests are largest in Turkey in decade
- Police crackdown on peaceful protests against plans to demolish park sparked riots
- Protests spread from Istanbul to 67 of 81 of Turkey's provinces
- Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan calls crackdown 'excessive' but says he's not a dictator
Editor's note: Fadi Hakura is the associate fellow and manager of the Turkey Project at the London-based think-tank Chatham House. He has written and lectured extensively on Turkey's political, economic and foreign policy and the relationship between the European Union and Turkey.
(CNN) -- Taksim Square is Istanbul's equivalent to Cairo's Tahrir Square or London's Trafalgar Square and it is now the epicenter of demonstrations triggered by construction plans for a shopping center in one of the city's few remaining green spaces.
What was initially a small sit-in has morphed into a major series of protests due to -- in the words of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan -- "excessive force" by the police.
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These protests reflect, in part, the deep ideological polarization between secular, liberal-minded Turks, and the more religious Turks, representing a quarter and two-thirds of the population respectively based on the 2011 general election results.
Many secular Turks complainthat the Islamist-rooted government is intolerant of criticism and the diversity of lifestyles. So far, Erdogan's robust and muscular stance vis-à-vis the demonstrators has reinforced those perceptions.
A typical example cited by detractors is the government's recent enactment of tight restrictions on the sale and promotion of alcohol even though the Turkish government's Household Budget Surveys estimates that only 6 percent of Turkish households are alcohol drinkers. Less than 1.5 percent of car accidents in 2012 were alcohol-related according to Turkish economist Emre Deliveli .
Anti-government protests rattle Turkey 
Turkish protesters target prime minister 
Update on Turkey's unrest At the same time, critics are unhappy at the rapid pace of urbanization in Turkey's metropolitan cities. Erdogan is planning to build a third airport, a third Bosphorus bridge and a canal linking the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara, which are likely to destroy millions of trees and a delicate ecosystem in northern Istanbul. A staggering $4.7 billion was spent on ambitious construction projects last year in Istanbul alone.
Given the litany of grievances and the confrontational nature of Turkish politics, the raging protests come as no surprise. They coincide with a rapidly slowing economy that is likely to witness moderate growth rates at best for the foreseeable future without increased structural reforms. Unfortunately, the Turkish government is not expected to undertake major reform initiatives anytime soon, especially since the campaigning for the local and presidential elections in 2014 and the parliamentary elections in 2015 are already underway.
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Despite the rising emotions sweeping Turkey, this is not equivalent to the "Arab Spring" that led to the toppling of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Unlike Egypt and other Arab countries, Turkey is a functioning, albeit incomplete, democracy and has been since 1950.
Erdogan received a resounding mandate of almost half the vote in the last general elections in 2011. He still remains the most popular politician in Turkey, while the opposition is widely seen by many Turks as weak and ineffective.
Undoubtedly, the global media coverage of the riots and the disproportionate security response has dented the international image of Erdogan and the governing Justice and Development Party as a progressive force in Turkey's political scene. Nevertheless, the ultimate determinant of Erdogan's staying power will be the state of the Turkish economy rather than anti-government demonstrations.
The opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of Fadi Hakura.
