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Turkey Riot:PM Erdogan met with people who are not represented in Gezi Park Protesters / Turkey News

Turkey-Riot-Pm-Erdogan-Met-Gezi-Park-Protesters

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, met yesterday with representatives just for looking democratic but for some reason they do not represent Gezi Park protesters.

The announcement came following talks between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a group of 11 activists, including academics, students and artists, in his offices in Ankara.

It amounts to the first major gesture by his government to end a stand-off with protesters in Istanbul’s Taksim Square and around the country.

But on a more defiant note, Justice and Development Party spokesman Huseyin Celik said the government would not allow the ongoing sit-in in Gezi Park, next to the square, to continue “until doomsday”.

The prospect of a referendum amounts to a political gamble by Mr Erdogan, who has drawn the ire of protesters over what they describe as an authoritarian streak.

He appeared to be betting that his strong base of support would vote in favour of the controversial plans to replace Gezi Park with a replica Ottoman-era barracks.

The protests erupted May 31 after a violent police crackdown on a peaceful sit-in by activists.

They then spread to 78 cities across the country and have attracted tens of thousands of people nearly every night.

Mr Celik said the referendum would be on the future of Ottoman-era barracks.

But he said it would exclude the planned demolition of a cultural centre, which he said is in an earthquake-prone area and needed to come down.

Police and protesters retrenched on Wednesday after fierce overnight clashes in Taksim Square.

Traffic returned to Taksim Square with taxis, trucks and pedestrians back on the streets but hundreds of protesters remained camped out in Gezi Park.

Protesters form a human chain in front of security forces at Taksim square in central Istanbul late
Protesters form a human chain in front of security forces at Taksim square in central Istanbul late

In Ankara and Istanbul, thousands of lawyers railed against the alleged rough treatment of dozens of their colleagues, who police briefly detained in Istanbul on the sidelines of Tuesday’s unrest.

Turkey’s Human Rights Foundation said Istanbul prosecutors had launched an investigation into allegations of excessive use of police force during the protests.

The foundation said 620 people, including a one-year-old child, were injured during the police crackdown early on Wednesday.

Police detained around 70 people during the incidents. Prior to this, activists reported that 5,000 people had been injured or seriously affected by the tear gas and four people have died in the protests.

The government’s actions during the protest have aroused criticism from European leaders – among them German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who spoke of the Taksim chaos seen in the pictures as “disturbing”. He said that “We expect Prime Minister Erdogan to de-escalate the situation, in the spirit of European values, and to seek a constructive exchange and peaceful dialogue.”

High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy for the European Union, Catherine Ashton, also opposed the way in which the situation was handled, encouraging an investigation into police action and criticizing the government’s social media blockade.

Lady Ashton told reporters that “Democratically elected governments – even the most successful of them, which have enjoyed three election victories and have half the population’s support – still need to take account of the needs and expectations of those who don’t feel represented… And peaceful demonstrations are a legitimate way for such groups to express their views.”

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