The mass protests that have shaken Turkey are certainly a watershed in the country's political history. But they are also liable to be easily misunderstood by many — by Turks themselves and outside observers.

For example, these protests do not imply that a “Turkish Spring” is in the air. The Arab Spring to which this perception alludes was a series of popular uprisings against longtime dictatorships. Massive crowds in Tunisia and Egypt hit the streets to fight for free, fair elections. Yet Turkey has had free and fair elections since 1950, and Erdogan has held power since 2002 by winning those elections with a steady increase in votes. He is, in fact, the most popular prime minister of the past half-century.

However, Erdogan is also the most hated prime minister of the past half-century. This is partly because Turkish society is always deeply divided by political, cultural and sectarian cleavages — something that Erdogan may not help heal. There are ultranationalists, ultrasecularists and archaic communists who would loathe him no matter what he does. However, Erdogan has been further antagonizing these groups and even more neutral “White Turks” — the educated, Westernized, liberal-leaning upper-middle-class — with his rough, heated rhetoric and overbearing persona and policies.

As Henri Barkey, one of the fair critics of Turkish affairs, put it well in a recent piece: “There is unease with Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian behavior and his incessant need to interfere with everything in Turkey, including public art, who wins what contract, where buildings go and even what commercials can be aired. No item is too small to warrant the prime minister’s attention. In some ways, one should marvel at his ability to keep so many balls in the air at the same time.”