By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 19:52 EST, 7 June 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 08:31 EST, 8 June 2013 . This is Ceyda Sungar, 'The Woman in Red' who became the symbol of Turkish protests after she was tear-gassed by police . This is the first picture of the Turkish academic since she became the unwitting icon of the country's mass protests after she was pictured being sprayed with tear gas. Dubbed 'The Woman in Red' because she was wearing an elegant red dress when she was gassed, Ceyda Sungar has said she is uncomfortable with her fame and has no desire to be a figurehead of the movement. 'There are a lot of people who were at the park and they were also tear-gassed,' she told Turkey's TV24. 'There is no difference between them and I.' Nevertheless, pictures have reverberated . around the world of Miss Sungar, an academic in city planning at Istanbul Technical University, turning away from massed riot police as one officer sprays . tear gas at her face. Endlessly . shared on social media and recreated as artwork on posters and . stickers, the image - dubbed 'The Woman in Red' - has become the . leitmotif for female protesters at recent violent anti-government riots . in Istanbul. But . the academic, who is part of the Taksim Solidarity Platform protesting . against the redevelopment of the park, has shied away from media . attention. She is believed to be uncomfortable with . her position as the focal point of the movement - although her image . alone has become a galvanising force for fellow protesters. In the early hours of this morning . thousands of protesters were digging in for a fresh weekend of . demonstrations Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's demand for an immediate . end to the worst political unrest of his decade in power. Iconic: Ceyda Sungar turns her head as a policeman showers her in pepper spray at close range . This is what democracy looks like: This combination of photos shows how Miss Sungar first faces off with the massed ranks of riot police before one steps forward to spray the gas right into her face . 'There are a lot of people who were at the park and they were also tear-gassed': Miss Sungar forced is to retreat coughing and spluttering as the gas-wielding riot policeman goes on to spray others at the protest . In . central Istanbul's Taksim Square, where riot police backed by . helicopters and armoured vehicles clashed with protesters a week ago, . activists spent the night in a makeshift protest camp. They slept in tents and vandalised buses, or wrapped themselves in blankets under the shelter of plane trees. What began as a campaign against the . redevelopment of Gezi Park in a corner of Taksim Square spiralled into . an massive display of public rage over the perceived authoritarianism of . Mr Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party. Worst unrest in a decade of power: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has called on protesters to immediately clear the streets . Police firing tear gas and water cannon have clashed with groups of protesters night after night in Istanbul, Ankara and other cities across the country for much of the past week, leaving three dead and some 4,000 injured. Mr Erdogan yesterday demanded an immediate end to the protests, saying they were founded on a 'campaign of lies.' He has branded the demonstrators as looters and has said the protests are being manipulated by 'terrorist' groups. There are rumours that among the liberal protesters there are far-Right nationalists who seek a return to the kind of militant secularism that saw Turkish politics dominated in the 20th century by a string of military dictatorships. Mr Erdogan gave no indication of any immediate plans to remove the tent villages that have appeared in Taksim and a park in the capital, Ankara. But the gatherings mark a challenge to a leader whose authority is built on three successive election victories. 'Let them attack, they can't stop us,' shouted a member of the Turkish Communist Party, shouting through loudspeakers to a cheering crowd from on top of a white van in Taksim Square. 'The AK Party will go. This will be the end.' The protesters have built barricades of . paving stones and corrugated iron on access roads to Taksim to try to . protect themselves against a potential police assault. But their actions . have brought gridlock to part of central Istanbul and it is unclear how . long the authorities will tolerate their presence. The square is lined by luxury hotels that should be doing a roaring trade as the summer season starts in one of the world's most-visited cities. But a forced eviction could trigger a repeat of the clashes seen earlier in the week. During his decade in power, Mr Erdogan has enacted many democratic reforms, taming a military that toppled four governments in four decades, starting entry talks with the European Union, reining in rights abuses by police and forging peace talks with Kurdish rebels to end a three-decade-old war that has cost 40,000 lives. A gay rights activist holds a sign as he protests near Taksim Square in Istanbul last night: In the early hours of this morning thousands of protesters were digging in for a fresh weekend of demonstrations . Occupy: In central Istanbul's Taksim Square activists spent the night in a makeshift protest camp. They slept in tents and vandalised buses, or wrapped themselves in blankets under the shelter of plane trees . A advertising hoarding is covered in graffiti as people gather at Taksim square yesterday evening: Mr Erdogan yesterday demanded an immediate end to the protests, saying they were founded on a 'campaign of lies' Turkish women stand near political signs at Taksim Square: Protesters have built barricades of paving stones and corrugated iron across roads to Taksim to try to protect themselves against a potential police assault . A woman shouts slogans during a rally in Gezi Park yesterday: The protesters' actions have brought gridlock to part of central Istanbul and it is unclear how long the authorities will tolerate their presence . Passion: Another young woman shouts slogans. The square is lined by luxury hotels that should be doing a roaring trade as tourist season starts in one of the world's most-visited cities . Per-capita income has tripled in nominal terms and business has boomed under his rule. But in recent years, critics say his style, always forceful and emotional, has become authoritarian. Media have come under pressure, and the arrests of military and other figures over alleged coup plots as well as moves such as restrictions on alcohol sales have unsettled especially secular middle-class Turks who are sensitive to any encroachment of religion on their daily lives. The fierce crackdown, condemned by foreign powers, on what started as peaceful protests in Gezi Park were the final straw, has caused simmering frustrations with Erdogan's leadership to boil over. 'These protests are partly a result of his success in economic and social transformation. There's a new generation who doesn't want to be bullied by the prime minister and who is afraid their lifestyle is in danger,' said Joost Lagendijk, a former European parliamentarian and Istanbul-based academic. Very enterprising: A woman and her daughter sell Guy Fawkes to protesters at Taksim Square yesterday . All you need is love: Two protesters lie together on the grass of Gezi Park, which the government wants to clear . Battleground: A protester climbs aboard a burned-out truck damaged in fierce fighting with police at Taksim . Sources close to the AK Party that Mr Erdogan founded in 2001, and which only a year later crushed traditional secular parties in elections, suggest a sense of siege within the leadership, with influential if disparate forces keen to remove Erdogan. Citing a party source, the Radikal newspaper said an AK Party executive meeting on Saturday may discuss the possibility of calling early elections, although it could also change party rules to enable Mr Erdogan to seek a fourth term as prime minister rather than running for the presidency. Mr Erdogan has made clear he has no intention of stepping aside - pointing to the AK Party's 50 percent of the vote in the last election - and he has no clear rivals inside the party or outside, with the opposition fragmented on the streets and in parliament.
First image of academic Ceyda Sungar since she was sprayed .
She speaks out over iconic pictures of her during 'People's Revolt'
'There were a lot of people there also tear-gassed,' she tells Turkish media .
She is believed to be uncomfortable with her unwitting role as figurehead .
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 19:52 EST, 7 June 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 08:31 EST, 8 June 2013 . This is Ceyda Sungar, 'The Woman in Red' who became the symbol of Turkish protests after she was tear-gassed by police . This is the first picture of the Turkish academic since she became the unwitting icon of the country's mass protests after she was pictured being sprayed with tear gas. Dubbed 'The Woman in Red' because she was wearing an elegant red dress when she was gassed, Ceyda Sungar has said she is uncomfortable with her fame and has no desire to be a figurehead of the movement. 'There are a lot of people who were at the park and they were also tear-gassed,' she told Turkey's TV24. 'There is no difference between them and I.' Nevertheless, pictures have reverberated . around the world of Miss Sungar, an academic in city planning at Istanbul Technical University, turning away from massed riot police as one officer sprays . tear gas at her face. Endlessly . shared on social media and recreated as artwork on posters and . stickers, the image - dubbed 'The Woman in Red' - has become the . leitmotif for female protesters at recent violent anti-government riots . in Istanbul. But . the academic, who is part of the Taksim Solidarity Platform protesting . against the redevelopment of the park, has shied away from media . attention. She is believed to be uncomfortable with . her position as the focal point of the movement - although her image . alone has become a galvanising force for fellow protesters. In the early hours of this morning . thousands of protesters were digging in for a fresh weekend of . demonstrations Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's demand for an immediate . end to the worst political unrest of his decade in power. Iconic: Ceyda Sungar turns her head as a policeman showers her in pepper spray at close range . This is what democracy looks like: This combination of photos shows how Miss Sungar first faces off with the massed ranks of riot police before one steps forward to spray the gas right into her face . 'There are a lot of people who were at the park and they were also tear-gassed': Miss Sungar forced is to retreat coughing and spluttering as the gas-wielding riot policeman goes on to spray others at the protest . In . central Istanbul's Taksim Square, where riot police backed by . helicopters and armoured vehicles clashed with protesters a week ago, . activists spent the night in a makeshift protest camp. They slept in tents and vandalised buses, or wrapped themselves in blankets under the shelter of plane trees. What began as a campaign against the . redevelopment of Gezi Park in a corner of Taksim Square spiralled into . an massive display of public rage over the perceived authoritarianism of . Mr Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party. Worst unrest in a decade of power: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has called on protesters to immediately clear the streets . Police firing tear gas and water cannon have clashed with groups of protesters night after night in Istanbul, Ankara and other cities across the country for much of the past week, leaving three dead and some 4,000 injured. Mr Erdogan yesterday demanded an immediate end to the protests, saying they were founded on a 'campaign of lies.' He has branded the demonstrators as looters and has said the protests are being manipulated by 'terrorist' groups. There are rumours that among the liberal protesters there are far-Right nationalists who seek a return to the kind of militant secularism that saw Turkish politics dominated in the 20th century by a string of military dictatorships. Mr Erdogan gave no indication of any immediate plans to remove the tent villages that have appeared in Taksim and a park in the capital, Ankara. But the gatherings mark a challenge to a leader whose authority is built on three successive election victories. 'Let them attack, they can't stop us,' shouted a member of the Turkish Communist Party, shouting through loudspeakers to a cheering crowd from on top of a white van in Taksim Square. 'The AK Party will go. This will be the end.' The protesters have built barricades of . paving stones and corrugated iron on access roads to Taksim to try to . protect themselves against a potential police assault. But their actions . have brought gridlock to part of central Istanbul and it is unclear how . long the authorities will tolerate their presence. The square is lined by luxury hotels that should be doing a roaring trade as the summer season starts in one of the world's most-visited cities. But a forced eviction could trigger a repeat of the clashes seen earlier in the week. During his decade in power, Mr Erdogan has enacted many democratic reforms, taming a military that toppled four governments in four decades, starting entry talks with the European Union, reining in rights abuses by police and forging peace talks with Kurdish rebels to end a three-decade-old war that has cost 40,000 lives. A gay rights activist holds a sign as he protests near Taksim Square in Istanbul last night: In the early hours of this morning thousands of protesters were digging in for a fresh weekend of demonstrations . Occupy: In central Istanbul's Taksim Square activists spent the night in a makeshift protest camp. They slept in tents and vandalised buses, or wrapped themselves in blankets under the shelter of plane trees . A advertising hoarding is covered in graffiti as people gather at Taksim square yesterday evening: Mr Erdogan yesterday demanded an immediate end to the protests, saying they were founded on a 'campaign of lies' Turkish women stand near political signs at Taksim Square: Protesters have built barricades of paving stones and corrugated iron across roads to Taksim to try to protect themselves against a potential police assault . A woman shouts slogans during a rally in Gezi Park yesterday: The protesters' actions have brought gridlock to part of central Istanbul and it is unclear how long the authorities will tolerate their presence . Passion: Another young woman shouts slogans. The square is lined by luxury hotels that should be doing a roaring trade as tourist season starts in one of the world's most-visited cities . Per-capita income has tripled in nominal terms and business has boomed under his rule. But in recent years, critics say his style, always forceful and emotional, has become authoritarian. Media have come under pressure, and the arrests of military and other figures over alleged coup plots as well as moves such as restrictions on alcohol sales have unsettled especially secular middle-class Turks who are sensitive to any encroachment of religion on their daily lives. The fierce crackdown, condemned by foreign powers, on what started as peaceful protests in Gezi Park were the final straw, has caused simmering frustrations with Erdogan's leadership to boil over. 'These protests are partly a result of his success in economic and social transformation. There's a new generation who doesn't want to be bullied by the prime minister and who is afraid their lifestyle is in danger,' said Joost Lagendijk, a former European parliamentarian and Istanbul-based academic. Very enterprising: A woman and her daughter sell Guy Fawkes to protesters at Taksim Square yesterday . All you need is love: Two protesters lie together on the grass of Gezi Park, which the government wants to clear . Battleground: A protester climbs aboard a burned-out truck damaged in fierce fighting with police at Taksim . Sources close to the AK Party that Mr Erdogan founded in 2001, and which only a year later crushed traditional secular parties in elections, suggest a sense of siege within the leadership, with influential if disparate forces keen to remove Erdogan. Citing a party source, the Radikal newspaper said an AK Party executive meeting on Saturday may discuss the possibility of calling early elections, although it could also change party rules to enable Mr Erdogan to seek a fourth term as prime minister rather than running for the presidency. Mr Erdogan has made clear he has no intention of stepping aside - pointing to the AK Party's 50 percent of the vote in the last election - and he has no clear rivals inside the party or outside, with the opposition fragmented on the streets and in parliament.
picture of the Turkish academic since she became after she was pictured being sprayed with tear Ceyda Sungar has said she is uncomfortable with the movement. 'There are a lot of people who were at the park and they were also tear-gassed,' she from media . attention. She is believed to be uncomfortable with . her position as the focal