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| Istanbul Gezi Park plan to proceed - Turkish PM Erdogan | Istanbul Gezi Park plan to proceed - Turkish PM Erdogan |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said plans to redevelop a park in Istanbul will go ahead despite mass protests now in their seventh day. | Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said plans to redevelop a park in Istanbul will go ahead despite mass protests now in their seventh day. |
| He made the remarks during a visit to Tunis. He is to return to Turkey, cutting short a North African tour. | He made the remarks during a visit to Tunis. He is to return to Turkey, cutting short a North African tour. |
| The protests mushroomed after police cracked down on activists defending Gezi Park from developers. | The protests mushroomed after police cracked down on activists defending Gezi Park from developers. |
| Demonstrators in Istanbul, Ankara and other cities have been calling for the three-term prime minister to quit. | Demonstrators in Istanbul, Ankara and other cities have been calling for the three-term prime minister to quit. |
| They accuse Mr Erdogan's government of becoming increasingly authoritarian and trying to impose conservative Islamic values on a secular state. | They accuse Mr Erdogan's government of becoming increasingly authoritarian and trying to impose conservative Islamic values on a secular state. |
| Four people are reported to have died, thousands have been injured and hundreds arrested in the unrest. | Four people are reported to have died, thousands have been injured and hundreds arrested in the unrest. |
| Mr Erdogan has dismissed the protests as undemocratic. | Mr Erdogan has dismissed the protests as undemocratic. |
| Before leaving for his official tour of North Africa on Monday, the PM had predicted the protests would be over by the time he came home. | Before leaving for his official tour of North Africa on Monday, the PM had predicted the protests would be over by the time he came home. |
| But on the eve of his return, police in the capital Ankara used tear gas and water cannon on protesters who had erected barricades and set them on fire. Rioting was also reported in the city of Tunceli. | But on the eve of his return, police in the capital Ankara used tear gas and water cannon on protesters who had erected barricades and set them on fire. Rioting was also reported in the city of Tunceli. |
| Earlier this week, Deputy PM Bulent Aric apologised for police violence in the original protest and met representatives of the protesters. | |
| The unrest began as a sit-in in Gezi Park, near Istanbul's Taksim Square, to block the redevelopment plans. But they escalated after police used tear gas to try to clear the protesters out. | |
| Opponents of the plan say the park is of the few green areas left in central Istanbul - many had been camping out there for several days in protest. | |
| But Mr Erdogan said earlier this week the project would go ahead, and that the historic Ottoman-era military barracks would be rebuilt on the site as planned. |