Istanbul: Turkish protesters hunkered down in an Istanbul park on Saturdday, rejecting an olive branch the government had hoped would end two weeks of nationwide civil unrest. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s offer to halt the redevelopment of Gezi park that first ignited the protests was presented as a major concession but after conferring all night the protesters said their movement was about something bigger than a conservation struggle.
“We will continue our resistance in the face of any injustice and unfairness taking place in our country,” the Taksim Solidarity group, seen as most representative of the protesters, said in a statement. “This is only the beginning.”
The decision looked set to inflame tensions a day after Erdogan offered to halt the Gezi Park redevelopment until a court ruled on its legality, his first major conciliatory gesture yet in a bid to end the biggest challenge of his Islamist-rooted government’s decade-long rule.
“Young people, you have remained there long enough and delivered your message…. Why are you staying?” Erdogan said in a speech broadcast on live television.
In the capital Ankara, meanwhile, riot police again fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse demonstrators overnight. Around 30 protesters were arrested. Later in the day, tens of thousands of supporters of Erodgan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) were expected to take to the streets of the capital for an election rally, in what has been billed as a show of strength for the embattled premier.
A peaceful sit-in to save Gezi Park’s 600 trees from being razed prompted a brutal police response on May 31, spiralling into nationwide demonstrations against Erdogan, seen as increasingly authoritarian.
Nearly 7,500 people have been injured and four killed in the mass unrest.
The United States and other Western allies have widely condemned Erdogan’s handling of the crisis, undermining Turkey’s image as model of Islamic democracy.
After taking a combative stance against the demonstrators, dismissing them as “looters” and “extremists”, Erdogan on Friday held his first talks with an umbrella group called Taksim Solidarity, representative of the protesters. (AFP)
