Friday, June 7, 2:30 a.m., Istanbul. Thousands of Justice and Development Party (AKP) supporters gathered as a showdown outside the Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul to welcome Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan upon his return from a four-day tour to North Africa, while a massive crowd in Taksim — just 20 minutes by car in normal traffic — continued their protest that started May 27 to counter Erdogan’s proposed plan to build a replica of the Ottoman Artillery Barracks, which were demolished in 1940, there.

The crowd chanted, “Ya Allah, Bismillah, Allahu Akbar,” as Erdogan climbed onto a bus at that early hour. “Let us go, we will crush Taksim.”

Unyielding and defiant, Erdogan made it clear — just as he did earlier in the day speaking in Tunis, Tunisia, the last stop of his foreign tour — that “the Ottoman Artillery Barracks will be built,” and called on his followers by saying: “You acted with dignity and common sense these past 10 days. You don’t have pots and pans in your hands, do you?” The melody of those pots and pans has been the symbol of the weeklong nationwide protests.

His determined stand, however, swept aside in an instant all the efforts of Bulent Arinc, his deputy and acting prime minister in his absence, as well as President Abdullah Gul. They both tried to talk with all parties involved in an effort to calm the tension on the streets.