Although Erdoğan described the protesters as "just a few looters",[1] 3.5 million of Turkey's 80 million people are estimated to have taken part in almost 5,000 demonstrations.[2] Five people were killed and more than 8,000 injured by water cannons and tear gas.[4] The event has been described (by journalist Christopher de Bellaigue) as part of a move by Erdoğan away from a more tolerant, diverse, and democratic Turkey, toward "vindictive authoritarianism" that is "undermining his own reputation as a path-finding democrat in the Muslim world".[4]