U.S. Urges End to 'Unhelpful Rhetoric' in Turkey

A top U.S. official urged Turkish leaders Thursday to refrain from "unhelpful comments" after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused "terrorists" of stoking days of anti-government protests.

"We remain supportive... of peaceful protest and of freedom of speech that individuals are asserting in the country," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.

But she added that Washington "would encourage any official there to refrain from unhelpful rhetoric and unhelpful comments that will not help calm the actions... happening in Turkey."

Erdogan headed home from an overseas trip, vowing to press ahead with plans to redevelop a park that have prompted the week of violent protests, which reports said have now claimed three lives.

Speaking in Tunis, Erdogan reiterated his claims that extremists and foreign agitators were to blame for the violence.

"Among the protesters, there are extremists, some of them implicated in terrorism," including some who were in Istanbul's Taksim Square where the trouble broke out last week, he told reporters.

The United States has already expressed concerns at "police brutality" in trying to quell the wave of protests.

And while she did not take issue directly with Erodgan, Psaki stressed that "the vast majority of these individuals are ordinary citizens who are exercising their rights to freedom of speech."

Turkey, while acknowledging some police excesses, has hit back at criticism of its handling of the crisis, a Turkish foreign ministry source told Agence France Presse.

The diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in a phone call Tuesday: "Turkey is not a second-class democracy."

The U.S. State Department later denied suggestions this was Washington's view of its NATO ally, a key strategic partner in the region.

"Turkey remains a close NATO ally, remains a close partner on a number of issues, including Syria. We work closely with government officials up and down the ranks in Turkey," Psaki said Thursday.