Kurdish rebels shot at a Turkish army base on the country's border with Iraq Monday, prompting soldiers to return fire, the military said, in the first reported hostilities since a March ceasefire.

The army said "a group of terrorists" fired shots at the base in the southeastern city of Sirnak, forcing return fire in "self-defense".

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Rabat on Monday at the start of a tour of the Maghreb region, an Agence France Presse photographer reported, as unprecedented anti-government protests swept Turkey.

Erdogan, who is accompanied by several ministers and a large delegation of businessmen, landed at Rabat airport at around 1400 GMT.

Germany called on Monday for calm and for dialogue in Turkey after days of clashes between anti-government protesters and police.

"In the current heightened situation, it's important that all parties demonstrate calm," government spokesman Steffen Seibert told a news conference, adding that Berlin was following events "with concern".

A young demonstrator was killed in Istanbul by a car that rammed into a crowd during a wave of protests against Turkey's government as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Monday that the situation is "calming down."

"The situation in my country is now calming down... On my return from this visit, the problems will be solved," Erdogan told a news conference in Rabat during an official visit to Morocco.

Around 100 people took part in a demonstration outside the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv on Sunday to demand the resignation of Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"Erdogan resign", "Democracy for Turkey", chanted the protesters, many of them Israelis of Turkish origin, in the demonstration at which no incidents were reported.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Sunday called for an end to nationwide anti-government protests, saying they would hurt the country's reputation in the region and the world.

"The continuation of these protests ... will bring no benefits but will harm the reputation of our country which is admired both in the region and the world," Davutoglu tweeted.

War-torn Syria on Sunday advised its citizens to avoid travel to neighboring Turkey, where massive protests have rocked several cities, because of "a deterioration in the security situation."

The warning issued by the foreign ministry comes as a civil war that has killed tens of thousands ravages Syria, pitting rebels backed by Turkey and other countries against the regime of President Bashar Assad.

Thousands of people were on Sunday occupying Istanbul's Taksim Square, the epicenter of the worst demonstrations in a decade against Turkey's Islamist-rooted government which have seen almost 1,700 people detained and scores wounded.

A sea of protesters from across Turkey's political spectrum were camping out in the iconic square, chanting "Government, Resign!" and "Istanbul is ours, Taksim is ours!" as they celebrated after the police pulled out of the site on Saturday.

Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi accused Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Syria's former ally Turkey on Saturday of "terrorizing" his own people and called on him to resign.

"The demands of the Turkish people do not justify this violence, and if Erdogan is incapable of using non-violent methods, then he should quit," state television cited Zohbi as saying after rioting in Istanbul.

Turkish police on Saturday began pulling out of Istanbul's iconic Taksim Square, the scene of a second day of violent clashes between protesters and police over a controversial development project.

Thousands of demonstrators flooded the site as police lifted the barricades around Taksim Excursion Park and began withdrawing from the square, an Agence France Presse reporter saw.