Activists have presented a list of demands which they say could end days of anti-government protests in Turkey.

The country faces a sixth evening of unrest, following a police crackdown on a peaceful protest.

In a move to defuse the tension, the deputy prime minister met the group whose attempt to prevent authorities from ripping up trees in Istanbul’s landmark Taksim Square has snowballed into nationwide protests against what demonstrators see as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian rule.

Turkey’s cities have been clouded in tear gas, and hundreds of people have been injured in five days of demonstrations.

While protests during the day have been largely peaceful, Ankara, Istanbul and other cities have seen violent clashes at night.

A human rights group says more than 3,300 people were detained in the demonstrations, although most have been released.

The activist group denounced Erdogan’s “vexing” style and urged the government to halt Taksim Square redevelopment plans, ban the use of tear gas by police, the immediate release of all detained protesters and the lifting of restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly.

It also demanded that officials – including governors and senior police officials – responsible for the violent crackdown on the protesters be removed from office.

The group of academics, architects and environmentalists, known as the Taksim Solidarity Platform, was formed to protect Taksim Square from development.

The protests were sparked by fury over a violent pre-dawn police raid on Friday to deal with activists camping out in an attempt to stop the rebuilding of an Ottoman army barracks and a shopping mall.

On Tuesday deputy prime minister Bulent Arinc, who is standing in for Erdogan while he is on a trip to Northern Africa, offered an olive branch to protesters, apologising for what he said was a “wrong and unjust” crackdown on the sit-in.

Erdogan had inflamed protesters, calling them “looters” and extremists, and refusing to back away from plans to revamp Taksim.

“The steps that the government will take from now on will define the course of the societal reaction,” said Eyup Muhcu, the head of a chamber of architects, after meeting with Arinc.

Meanwhile, police have detained 25 people for “spreading untrue information” on social media and allegedly inciting people to join the wave of anti-government protests, the state-run agency reported.

The people were detained late on Tuesday in the city of Izmir, western Turkey, according to the Anadolu Agency.

Police were looking for 13 others, it added.

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