Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan returned from an overseas trip today, greeted by a rally organized at the airport by the ruling party while the rest of the country saw anti-government protests continue, and demands for Erdogan’s resignation grow.

It wouldn’t seem like staying the course is even an option at this point, but Erdogan insisted that was the plan, promising to go through with his plan to demolish an Istanbul park despite it having sparked what is now being called the “Turkish Summer.”

Instead of hinting at any sort of deal to end the demonstrations, Erdogan immediately delivered a speech angrily condemning the protesters as “terrorists,” and insisting that what had started as a minor “environmental” protest was now full of crazed terror groups determined to “burn and destroy.”

The protests have now stretched nearly a week, with over 4,000 demonstrators wounded in police crackdowns, three killed and a huge number of others disappeared on various pretexts, from participating in rallies to criticizing police on Twitter.

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