[ABCNEWS.GO] Conciliatory comments toward the protesters from some government officials also hint at disagreement with their leader's approach.

Since Turkey has a stable developing democracy and Erdogan's Islamic-rooted government doesn't appear to be in danger of toppling before his term is up, it's up to the prime minister to chart the course of the crisis. Although his deputy has apologized for the crackdown, Erdogan has so far doubled down, choosing confrontation over reconciliation, dismissing the demonstrators as rabble and even branding Twitter, used by activists to organize and update each other, as a menace.

"Social media is the pain in the neck of all societies," Erdogan said.

The startling remark, hostile to a medium that much of the world has embraced, recalls other conflicts where anti-government activists relied on social media to organize. But NATO ally Turkey does not share the same dynamics as Tunisia, Egypt, or Libya, and its relative stability suggests a Mideast-style revolution is not likely to happen.