Insight - Simmering anger at Erdogan's authoritarianism boils over in Turkey


Demonstrators stand in front of a make shift shield during clashes with Turkish riot police in central Ankara June 2, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's most violent riots in decades may have been started by the destruction of a small Istanbul park, but they have exploded in a show of defiance at what many see as the creeping authoritarianism of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

In power for more than a decade, Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party has increased its share of the vote in each of the past three elections, ushered in unprecedented political stability and overseen some of the fastest economic growth in Europe.

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