Turkish Prime Minister defiant over anti-government protests

Turkish Prime Minister defiant over anti-government protests

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday, June 1 called on demonstrators to end anti-government protests now into a second day, but he remained defiant, insisting police would break down protests at a main Istanbul square and indicating that the government would press ahead with the redevelopment plans that sparked the demonstrations, AP reported.

"Police were present in Taksim yesterday," Erdogan said. "They will be present today and they will be present tomorrow too. Taksim cannot be a place where extremist groups run wild."

He said the government was determined to revamp Taksim and rebuild the old army barracks but said no firm decision was made on building a shopping mall.

Erdogan, who is serving a third term in office after winning landslide elections, denounced the protests as illegimate and suggested he could easily summon 1 million people for a pro-government rally. "All attempts apart from the ballot box are not democratic," Erdogan said.

The leader of Turkey's pro-secular, main opposition party called on Erdogan to immediately withdraw police from Taksim. "Show us that you are the prime minister, pull back your police," Kemal Kilicdaroglu said.

Ozturk Turkdogan, the head of the Turkish Human Rights Association, said hundreds of people in several cities were injured in the police crackdown and a few hundred people were arrested. The Dogan news agency said 81 demonstrators were detained in Istanbul.

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