Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's recent move to develop Taksim Square into a new shopping mall has caused a string of protests. However, the underlying problems behind the unrest are a little more complicated. With the leadership of Prime Minister Erdogan, the Islamist Justice and Development Party, otherwise known as A.K.P, has planned to recreate Turkey's image into a "model nation" for Muslim countries. A.K.P aims to project this image of Turkey as being a nation where Islam and secularism mesh together harmoniously.

Prime Minister Erdogan's proposal to break down Turkey's symbolic Taksim Square and replace it with a shopping mall of Ottoman architectural design led people to believe that modernizing the country isn't the only thing on the agenda. The square was built by the country's early forefathers.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister of Turkey

The uprisings and protests are just a projection of dismay to the belief that Prime Minister Erdogan is concentrating Turkey's political spectrum and power on the A.K.P, making the government status more authoritarian than democratic.

But the Turkish population is divided on the issue. The strong opponents to Prime Minister Erdogan's regime argues that the A.K.P. has passed several laws highly favoring Islamic-oriented morals and Sharia jurisprudence, such as prohibiting alcohol sale and consumption in public areas.

In response to this ban, the youth of Turkey raised their bottles in protest, emphasizing their refusal to adhere to the new institutions.

While the urban areas are blazing with protests, several significant Islamic organizations have built strong support systems in smaller, rural areas especially towards the Eastern region. Some parties still contribute an adequate amount of support for the Islamist A.K.P. To visualize the number of supporters of the A.K.P, Prime Minister Erdogan took to Twitter and said one he could easily roll out his millions of supporters to back him up in Taksim Square, posing a threat to the slew of protests.

Other triggering factors for the onslaught of demonstrations is linked to their disapproval of the economic policies practiced by the current administration and people's contempt over Erdogan's meddling with the Syrian conflict.