- A trade union group calls a two-day strike accusing the government of "fascism"
- At least two people have died in violent clashes that have flared amid protests
- The rallies are the biggest movement against the prime minister in his decade in power
- He says the demonstrations are the work of "extreme elements"
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Istanbul (CNN) -- Trade unions claiming 240,000 members are throwing their weight behind anti-government demonstrations across Turkey.
The KESK confederation of public sector workers was calling a two-day strike starting Tuesday to protest what it called the "fascism" of the governing party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has become one of the focal points of demonstrators' anger.
They have united demonstrators from across the political spectrum against a common foe: security forces who unleashed tear gas and water cannons on them in response to what had been largely peaceful protests against Erdogan's government.
Read more: Turkish protesters decry 'unprecedented violence'
The Turkish Medical Association claimed that at least 3,195 people had been injured in clashes Sunday and Monday. Only 26 of them were in serious or critical condition, it said.
Protesters stand atop a pile of rubble during clashes with Turkish police outside of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's office, near Taksim Square in Istanbul, on Monday, June 3. The protests began as a demonstration against the planned demolition of Gezi Park and have grown to general anti-government dissent also spilling into the capital, Ankara. 
Turkish riot police fire tear gas canisters to disperse protesters near Taksim Square on June 3. 
Police officers tend to a demonstrator during the violent clashes in Istanbul on June 3. 
A protester waves the Turkish flag from a rooftop at Taksim Square on June 3 as large crowds continue to demonstrate below. 
A protester wears a gas mask as smoke from a burned car fills the air at Taksim Square on June 3. 
Despite Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's call for calm on Monday, June 3, protests continued in Istanbul. Protesters carry the Turkish flag and shout against the government in Gezi Park near central Istanbul. 
After protests that lasted until the early morning, a protester sleeps in a damaged and vandalized vehicle in Taksim Square on June 3. Protests showed no sign of letting up on Monday, almost a week after a peaceful sit-in was met with a police crackdown, igniting the biggest anti-government riots the city has seen in a decade. 
A tired protester rests in front of the graffiti-sprayed wall of an information booth at Taksim Square in central Istanbul on June 3. 
Turkish protesters clash with riot police near the prime minister's office between Taksim and Besiktas early June 3. 
Protesters drive an excavator toward Turkish riot police as they make their way to Erdogan's office on June 3. 
During the clashes, volunteer doctors helped injured protesters in a mosque on June 3. 
A protester is silhouetted by a burning car at Taksim Square during clashes in the early morning of June 3. 
A protester covers his face on June 3 near Erdogan's office in Istanbul. 
Protesters clash with riot police in Istanbul on June 3. 
Protesters gather in Taksim Square in Istanbul on Sunday, June 2. 
Riot police fire tear gas during a protest against Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling AK Party in central Ankara on June 2. Sparked by the events in Istanbul, general anti-government protests have sprung up in Ankara. 
Demonstrators hide behind makeshift shields during clashes with Turkish riot police in Ankara on June 2. 
Police use a water cannon to disperse protesters outside Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's working office in Istanbul on June 2. 
Protesters cling to a police vehicle mounted with a water canon in Istanbul on June 2. 
Turkish police detain a protester during demonstrations in Ankara on June 2. 
A protester flashes a victory sign as he takes part in a demonstration in Ankara on Saturday, June 1 in support of the protests in Istanbul against government plans to demolish a park. 
Protesters clash with riot police in Istanbul, Turkey, on Saturday, June 1. 
Protesters clash with riot police near Gezi Park on June 1. Earlier this week, several dozen activists tried to stage a sit-in at the park, the last bit of green space left in Istanbul's Taksim Square, the city's transit and commercial hub. 
Turkish protesters wearing gas masks face off against riot police near Istanbul's Taksim Square on June 1. 
Riot police use tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowd of demonstrators on June 1. 
A man flees the clashes between Turkish protestors and riot police on June 1. On Friday, May 31, riot police stormed the growing camp in Gezi Park with water cannons and tear gas, pushing protesters into surrounding streets and triggering the clashes that have continued for more than 24 hours. 
The clashes damaged surrounding businesses in Istanbul and forced them to close on June 1. 
A man catches his breath behind the line where clashes are taking place on June 1. 
A pair of tourists gasp for air as riot police use tear gas and water cannons the fend off the demonstrators. Turkish security forces allowed small groups of pedestrians to travel through the square. 
Protesters buy gas masks from a local shop near the square on June 1. 
Riot police fire tear gas into the crowd of protesters overnight on Friday, May 31. 
Demonstrators set up barricades and build a fire as they clash with Turkish officers on May 31. 
Friends carry an injured protester on May 31. More than a dozen people have been injured in the clashes. 
Riot police use tear gas and water cannons to disperse a crowd at Taksim Square on May 31. 
An activist wearing a gas mask is enveloped in a cloud of tear gas on May 31. 
A crowd scatters during clashes on May 31, as one demonstrator throws back the tear gas canister that was launched by riot police. 
Protestors brace themselves as they are fired upon with a water canon by Turkish police forces. 
A large group of demonstrators gather to protest the demolition of Gezi Park in Taksim Square on May 31. 
Anti-government riots erupt in Turkey 
Turkey's political situation deteriorates 
Turkish protesters target prime minister One protester, Mehmet Ayvalitas, died of his injuries, the association said. And the governor of Hatay in southeastern Turkey said that a 22-year-old man, Abdulah Comert, was killed with a firearm by unknown suspects during demonstrations late Monday, the semi-official Anadolou News Agency reported.
The medical association reported that the bulk of the injuries occurred in Istanbul, where the protests began before spreading to Ankara, Izmir, Adana and other locations.
Relative calm
After chaotic scenes in the streets Monday that continued late into the night and sent tear gas wafting through the air, the situation was relatively calm on Tuesday morning in Istanbul's central Taksim Square, near the park where the protest movement began.
Barricades remain up around the square and Erdogan's opponents appear determined to continue the demonstrations despite the prime minister's comment Monday that he expects the situation to return to normal "within a few days."
The protests began after plans were made to raze Gezi Park, the last green space in central Istanbul, and replace it with a replica of 19th-century Ottoman barracks. The development would contain a shopping mall.
What began as a sit-in by a handful of angry residents quickly grew into a larger protest. Riot police moved in, using tear gas and pepper spray. Protesters responded by hurling bottles, setting up barricades, blocking bulldozers and burning trash in the middle of the street.
Then, outraged by the behavior of security forces, demonstrators began attacking police. The protests have since morphed into larger complaints against Erdogan, whom protesters call paternalistic and authoritarian.
Police criticized
International groups including Amnesty International have criticized the police response as excessive. In Ankara Sunday night, a CNN crew witnessed authorities roughing up at least one protester. One police officer kicked a CNN videographer, CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reported, and a CNN crew in Istanbul Sunday also witnessed bloodied protesters.
Erdogan, who left the country Monday on a four-day trip to North Africa, has responded by dismissing the demonstrations as the work of "extreme elements" and marginal groups.
"My smart citizens will recognize this, then they will give them the right lesson," he said.
Park protest triggers national response 
Update on Turkey's unrest 
Turkish citizens want PM to resign But Turkey's president, Abdullah Gul, took a somewhat more conciliatory tone Monday, saying "the messages sent in good faith have been received."
In Istanbul, the crowds have been chanting "Tayyip resign" -- referring to Erdogan -- and "Shoulder to shoulder against fascism."
The protests have spread to 67 of Turkey's 81 provinces, according to Anadolu.
Opposition pushing back
Hugh Pope, a senior Turkey analyst with the International Crisis Group, called the protests "completely unprecedented" and said Erdogan was caught off guard. Most demonstrators, Pope said, are "overwhelmingly ordinary people" who simply want their voices heard.
"However, there are other demonstrators who are somewhat more opportunistic in the left-wing factions who normally don't get much in the way of airtime in Turkey and are camped on Taksim Square," Pope said.
Erdogan has defiantly praised his government's accomplishments in overseeing a decade of strong economic growth in Turkey.
His party has won the past three elections, most recently securing 49.95% of the vote in 2011.
"What you have is essentially a large group of Turks who feel alienated from this government, in power for 10 years," said Richard Haass, a Middle East analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.
"It's increasingly a one-party country. All the politics happen within it. The opposition is weak, divided, feckless," he said. "You have a lot of people in Turkey who feel both alienated and intimidated by the government, and this is the way they decided to push back."
CNN's Ivan Watson and Talia Kayali contributed to this report.
04 Jun, 2013
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