ISTANBUL — A violent police crackdown on a small environmental sit-in at Istanbul's central Taksim Square has done more than spawn a week of protests across the country. It has left cracks in the shiny international image of a tolerant and deeply democratic Turkey.
It might even have rattled the nation's grand ambitions on the world stage, which include a bid to host the 2020 Olympics and its longstanding aim to join the European Union.
Thousands of protesters gathered for the eighth consecutive night Friday in Istanbul's Taksim Square, where the demonstrations originally began, and about 10,000 showed up at the main square in the capital, Ankara.
They vented anger at Prime Minister Reccep Tayyip Erdogan, who has said the protests are bordering on illegality and must stop immediately.
In his decade in power, Erdogan has been the driving force behind many of the reforms essential to push Turkey's EU bid forward, including significant improvements to human rights legislation. The country's economy has blossomed and infrastructure projects have burgeoned, especially in Istanbul.
But many say he has gone too far. Dissent is rarely tolerated and some outspoken critics, including journalists and politicians, have been jailed.
Now critics and even some supporters accuse the prime minister of ignoring the fears and concerns of the 50 percent of the electorate who did not vote for him.
''Turkey has been harmed in many ways in the last 10 days in terms of the image [and] financial markets,'' said Cengiz Aktar, professor of international relations of Bahcesehir University.
The main index on the Istanbul Stock Exchange fell by 8 percent Thursday, after Erdogan made statements in Tunisia during a North Africa trip saying that the development project for Taksim Square would go ahead.
It recouped some of its losses Friday, but has lost about 9 percent in a week.
''There is only one, just one person who can solve this problem and his name is Erdogan. We are all watching his lips,'' Aktar said.