Reluctant heroine: a riot policeman prepares to use tear gas against Ceyda Sungur. Photo: Reuters

With her red cotton dress, white shoulder bag and flowing black hair, she has become the colour-coded emblem of Turkey´s new people-power movement.

Caught on camera as she was sprayed head-to-toe in tear gas, Ceyda Sungur´s treatment at the hands of Istanbul´s riot police seemed the epitome of using a "sledgehammer to crack a nut" and encapsulated the government´s heavy-handed response to a civilised protest.

Pictures of the "Lady in the Red Dress" quickly spread around the world via the internet. Those who shared the pictures online joined protesters in demanding to know why a woman who looked attired for a summer picnic had been treated like a masked, brick-throwing anarchist.

Oh yeah, that made a difference! She is thinking:

"En güzeli artık son vermek bu hayata "