Editing Justice and Development Party (section)

===Torture and censorship during Gezi protests===
Nationwide protests broke out against the alleged [[authoritarianism]] of the AKP in 2013, with the party's heavy-handed response receiving international condemnation and stalling the party's once championed EU accession negotiations. Since then, the party has brought about tighter regulations on internet use, abortion and alcohol consumption, having temporarily blocked access to Twitter and YouTube in March 2014. Especially after the government corruption scandal involving several AKP ministers in 2013, the party has been increasingly accused of crony capitalism. The AKP favours a strong centralized leadership, having long advocated a presidential system of government and significantly reduced the number of elected local government positions in 2013.

Much of the Turkish media downplayed and censored the protests, especially in the early stages. The government estimates that approximately 3.6 million people actively participated in approximately 5,000 demonstrations across Turkey linked to the first Gezi Park protests. Twenty-two people died and more than 8,000 were injured, many seriously. During the protests, the government used [[police brutality]], and some sources mention that some stray animals were injured during the suppression of the protests.