As Erdogan left on a visit to North Africa, his deputy Bulent Arinc took charge of the government, so he apologized to the protestors.

As Erdogan left on a visit to North Africa, his deputy Bulent Arinc took charge of the government and apologized to injured protestors.

"I apologize to those who were subject to violence because of their sensitivity for the environment," Arinc said at a press conference, referring to the first protestors injured when clashes erupted on Friday.

"The excessive violence that was used in the first instance against those who were behaving with respect for the environment was wrong and unfair. I apologize to those citizens," he added.

"The government has learnt its lesson from what happened," he added.

His remarks came after Erdogan challenged the protestors, describing them as “looters.”

Arinc said clashes had left about 300 people wounded in five days, although rights groups and doctors have put the number of injured in the thousands and two people have been killed.

Arinc further said he would meet some of the organizers of the original protest, calling on "responsible citizens" to stop the protests.

However, hundreds of demonstrators defied his message and returned peacefully within hours to Taksim Square, the cradle of the protests in Istanbul.

This comes as the protests were provoked when a man was shot dead during an environment rally in Antakya.