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Protesters in Turkish Park Spurn Government Appeal
(about 2 hours later)
ISTANBUL — Taksim Square is mostly back to normal: the taxicabs line up in front of fancy hotels, where the doormen no longer clutch gas masks, and outdoor cafes are bustling.
ISTANBUL — Protesters camped out in Gezi Park in central Istanbul for more than two weeks vowed Saturday to remain there despite an offer by the prime minister to allow the courts to decide on the future of the park, the preservation of which was the cause of the protest movement that rose to challenge his leadership.
But Gezi Park — the green corner of the square — remains occupied by defiant protesters who on Saturday pledged that they would continue with their demonstrations, disavowing a compromise between their self-declared leaders and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to end a political crisis that has caused severe damage to Turkey’s image and its economy.
In disavowing the compromise offer — which also called for a referendum should the court rule in the government’s favor and allow the demolition of the park — the protesters risked hardening the crisis and inciting a decisive police raid to clear the area. Officials have warned for days that a raid is imminent.
Protesters and Taksim Solidarity, an umbrella group of protest organizers, “continued to guard the park and the city for all the living beings in them, our trees, living spaces, private lives, liberties and future,” the group said a statement issued Saturday.
Taksim Solidarity, an umbrella group of protest organizers, was impressed enough by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s gesture that it tried to persuade protesters on Friday to clear the park.
The resistance encompasses “citizens’ anger that accumulated over 11 years of A.K.P. government,” the statement said, using the acronym of the governing Justice and Development Party. The statement added that the movement would continue to spread.
But the rank-and-file protesters vehemently disagreed, and on Saturday, Taksim Solidarity appeared to back off somewhat, issuing a statement that the protest movement “continued to guard the park and the city for all the living beings in them, our trees, living spaces, private lives, liberties and future.”
The protesters’ decision puts the two sides on the path to confrontation, raising the specter of a police raid to flush out the demonstrators still there.
The statement also said the environmentalist resistance that encompasses “citizens’ anger that accumulated over 11 years of A.K.P. government would continue and spread over all portions of life, city and country,” referring to the Turkish initials for Mr. Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party.
Turkey’s president, Abdullah Gul, urged the protesters to end their action, saying in a Twitter posting on Saturday that “everyone should now return home.” It was ignored.
It appeared Saturday that Mr. Erdogan’s new compromising tone — after a series of defiant speeches that further inflamed anger — had succeeded in causing fissures in the protest movement. Taksim Solidarity was still trying Saturday to see if it could reach a compromise with the rank and file, suggesting they keep one tent in the park as a symbolic move to maintain the protest until the future of the park is determined.
“Open channels for meetings and dialogue is a sign of democratic maturity. I believe this period will produce good results,” Mr. Gul added.
Mr. Erdogan’s latest stance may also have gained political cover for an imminent police raid if the vast majority of protesters refused to leave.
Officials from the pro-Islamic Justice and Development Party continued to criticize the protests as an internationally backed plot and an effort by the main opposition party to hurt the government.
Mr. Erdogan was planning to hold two rallies of his own supporters, in Ankara, the capital, on Saturday, and in Istanbul on Sunday, which are being viewed as counterdemonstrations to show that he is still extremely popular in much of the country.
“If the issue is about the environmental concerns, respect to the green, all of these messages have been taken, necessary assessments have been made,” Huseyin Celik, a government representative, said in a televised statement on Saturday. “From now on, prolonging this any longer just spoils it.”
And Turkey’s president, Abdullah Gul, who had been more conciliatory to the protesters last week, urged them on Saturday to end their action, saying in a Twitter posting that “everyone should now return home.”
The protesters remained defiant after organizers walked out of Mr. Erdogan’s home in Ankara, Turkey’s capital, in the early morning hours on Friday with a tentative deal to end the demonstrations. But the rank and file did not go along.
“Open channels for meetings and dialogue is a sign of democratic maturity,” Mr. Gul wrote. “I believe this period will produce good results.”
“Cowards! Liars! Sheep!” some of the protesters shouted as members from Taksim Solidarity tried to deliver details of their meeting with Mr. Erdogan.
Government officials continued their criticism of the protests as an internationally backed plot by interest groups and an effort by the main opposition party to hurt the government.
In the proposed compromise, Mr. Erdogan agreed to allow a legal challenge to the park’s demolition before any construction would begin, and he pledged to hold a referendum in Istanbul even if a court rules in the government’s favor and allows the park to be replaced with a mall designed to look like an Ottoman-era army barracks.
“If the issue is about the environmental concerns, respect to the green, all of these messages have been taken, necessary assessments have been made,” Huseyin Celik, a government spokesman, said Saturday in a televised statement. “Prolonging this any longer just spoils it.”
But from the moment the deal was reached, it was unclear how many of the protesters, mostly young, secular and middle class, would react. Many say they have no leader and do not trust the government to uphold the deal.
Sebnem
Arsu contributed reporting.
“The government thinks the solidarity group represents all of us, and the rest are extremists and terrorists, but that is just not true,” said Cuneyt Yusuf, 25, referring to several leftist groups that the government says are terrorist organizations and that have joined the street protests. “We in the park are a majority, and we do not have a representative.”
The angry posture struck by the occupiers of Gezi Park underscored the amorphous nature of the protest movement, which is largely leaderless. Mr. Erdogan’s decision to directly engage Taksim Solidarity after days of defiant comments was an attempt to focus the protests on their original cause: the preservation of the park. Originally, a few hundred people peacefully mobilized against the park’s destruction. But when the police cracked down, it spurred a broader movement that challenged Mr. Erdogan’s government, which many Turks view as becoming increasingly authoritarian.
“We want a group of representatives from all corners of the park,” said Bilgi Coskun, who said he has slept in Gezi Park for 17 days. “Those that have put up a fight, choked on gas, slept here day and night, guarding our soil. The Taksim Solidarity is no representative of this park or movement.”
The apparent unwillingness of many of the protesters to agree to the compromise also raised the specter of a further hardening of resolve on both sides, even as some leaders promoted a compromise. That raised more fears that ultimately the government would dispatch the police to empty the park, leading to more violence.
Mr. Erdogan said again on Friday that the protesters must leave.
“Youngsters, look,” he said, “you have stayed there for as long as you could. We have received and evaluated your message. Now withdraw from Gezi Park and go home. If there are still some left from the illegal organizations, leave us alone with them.”
Protesters say it is now hard to sleep because they expect to be awakened by a police raid.
“You get used to it,” Turgut Bulut, 29, said. “If they come, they come. We are not scared because it is them that will pay the price in the long run. They are going down.”
