TUNISIA: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan set to return to Turkey from Tunisia after confirming he won't back down despite mass protests across the country

Record ID: 217649

  • Title: TUNISIA: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan set to return to Turkey from Tunisia after confirming he won't back down despite mass protests across the country
  • Date: 6th June 2013
  • Summary: GAMMARTH, TUNISIA, (JUNE 6, 2013) (REUTERS) TURKISH PRIME MINISTER RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN AND TUNISIAN PRIME MINISTER ALI LARAYADH ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE BOTH MEN SEATED ERDOGAN WALKS TO PODIUM PHOTOGRAPHER AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH PM, RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, SAYING: "Before elections in 2011, I promised to achieve these projects. I stated then t
  • Embargoed: 21st June 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Tunisia
  • Country: Tunisia
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1LAKLMOSG2RETEUSAMKIGTBXE
  • Story Text: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan condemned the "burn and destroy" tactics of some of those involved in days of violent protests on Thursday (June 6), and promised to press ahead with plans for an Istanbul park which triggered the unrest.
    Speaking on a visit to Tunisia, Erdogan said "terror groups" were manipulating what had started as an environmental campaign, and added that seven foreigners were among those arrested.
    What began as a campaign against the redevelopment of a leafy Istanbul park has grown into an unprecedented show of defiance against the perceived authoritarianism of Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party.
    Police backed by armoured vehicles have clashed with the protesters night after night, while thousands have massed peacefully in recent days on Taksim Square, where the demonstrations first began.

    "Before elections in 2011, I promised to achieve these projects. I stated then that seven great projects will see the light in Istanbul. Why did current opponents say nothing in that time?" he told reporters.
    Erdogan returns to Turkey later on Thursday to face demands he apologise for a police crackdown on the six days of protests in which three people have been killed and more than 4,000 injured in a dozen cities, and to sack those who ordered it.

    "I don't accept that the minority imposes its power on the majority. but, I add that nor can we accept to see the majority imposing things on the minority. So what we are doing now is just protecting the rights of the majority. We won't be betrayers and we won't be betrayed in our politics. That's our motto. I did not use the word "referendum" until now. Besides, some people said also that such issues can not be resolved by referendum," added Erdogan.
    By confining his comments to a group of protesters, Erdogan appeared softer in tone than before he left for North Africa at the start of the week, when he described the demonstrators in blanket terms as looters, but he remained wholly critical of the violence of the past nights.

    "There are obvious bad intentions. We will achieve this project in order to protect the environment, because the term environment does not only mean trees but also history, culture all these things are complementary. But protecting the environment does not mean removing pavements, throwing stones, causing fire or destroying bus stations," he said.
    His defiance rattled nervous financial markets. The main Istanbul stock index was down 4.7 percent by 1257 GMT while the lira weakened to 1.8923 against the dollar. The two-year benchmark bond yield rose to its highest in more than six months.
    Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc, formally in charge while Erdogan is away, has struck a conciliatory tone, apologising for the initial police crackdown on peaceful campaigners in Taksim's Gezi Park and meeting a delegation of protesters in his office in Ankara.
    Around Ankara's Kugulu Park, a middle class area dotted with restaurants and bars, people chanted "dictator resign" and "everywhere is Taksim, everywhere is resistance" late on Wednesday as residents banged pots and pans in support.
    But the situation was calmer around the 19th-century Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul, the caliph's seat of power until the Ottoman empire collapsed in 1922 and now home to Erdogan's offices, where some of the fiercest clashes have taken place.
    Tourists picked their way along dirt paths where paving stones had been ripped up in the protests.
    Despite the unrest, Erdogan remains by far Turkey's most popular politician, his assertive style and common touch resonating with the conservative Islamic heartland.
    His AK Party has won an increasing share of the vote in three successive elections and holds around two thirds of the seats in parliament. A man who rarely bows to any opposition, he clearly has no intention of stepping down and no obvious rivals inside or outside his party.
    But he, and those around him, face a challenge in calming the protests without appearing to lose face.
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