Turkish mothers sing during a candle-lit vigil in memory of those killed during the recent demonstrations on Taksim Square in Istanbul.
ISTANBUL/ANKARA: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told protesters yesterday he would put redevelopment plans for an Istanbul park on hold until a court rules on them, striking a more conciliatory tone after two weeks of fierce anti-government demonstrations.
Erdogan again called on the hundreds of protesters still occupying Gezi Park to withdraw. But the atmosphere in their ramshackle settlement of tents was defiant, with a hard core of demonstrators still chanting for him to resign.
Financial markets rose on hopes that environmentalists who oppose the construction at Gezi Park would be satisfied. But with ruling party rallies planned for the weekend, it remained unclear whether other protesters with a wide variety of grievances against Erdogan would go home.
“You have stayed here as long as you could and have relayed your message. If your message is about Taksim Gezi Park, it has been received and evaluated,” Erdogan said at a meeting of his AK Party. “Please now leave the Gezi Park and go to your homes.”
Erdogan’s pledge at an overnight meeting with a delegation of his opponents was largely symbolic as the government is required by law to respect the outcome of the court ruling brought by the environmentalists trying to block the plan.
But it contrasted with his earlier defiance when he attacked protesters who accuse him of autocratic behaviour as “riff-raff” and insisted the plans would go ahead in the adjacent park.
“Of course the government respects judicial rulings and is obliged to implement them,” said Huseyin Celik, deputy chairman of the ruling AK Party. “Until the judicial ruling is finalised there will not be any action whatsoever on Gezi Park.”
A police crackdown on peaceful campaigners in the park two weeks ago provoked an unprecedented wave of protest against Erdogan and his AK Party - an association of centrists and conservative religious elements - drawing in secularists, nationalists, professionals, trade unionists and students.
A 26-year-old Turkish man died yesterday from injuries sustained during days of protests in Ankara, the fourth person to be killed in violence in various cities which left some 5,000 injured, according to the Turkish Medical Association. At the overnight meeting, Erdogan met a delegation made up largely of actors and artists but also including two members of the umbrella protest group Taksim Solidarity.
The delegation welcomed what they said was Erdogan’s promise to respect the outcome of the court case filed against the plans to build a replica Ottoman-era barracks. That commitment followed an offer on Wednesday of a referendum on the plans if the court found in the government’s favour.Reuters
