Protesters in Gezi Park, Istanbul. Photograph by VikiPicture
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has issued a “final warning” to protesters to leave Gezi Park in Istanbul, following the lrage-scale police operation that cleared adjacent Taksim Square on Tuesday night.
Once again demonstrating his combative style, Erdogan said:
“Our patience is at an end. I am making my warning for the last time”
Protesters have controlled Gezi park for nearly two weeks, calling for the resignation of Erdogan due to his increasingly authoritarian rule and perceived “Islamisation” of the secular country, by enacting laws such as those that restrict the sale of alcohol. The protesters have also called for the resignation of police chiefs after the way they have treated peaceful protesters with water cannons, pepper spray, and continuous clouds of tear gas.
Activists have insisted that they will not leave gezi Park until the government abandons plans to redevelop it into a shopping mall, the original spark for the wave of anti-government protests. Erdogan has promised a local vote on its future.
