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| The Grand Turk |
| Erdogan meets opponents to try to end protests |
| 2013-06-14 |
| [REUTERS] Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan met members of a group opposed to the redevelopment of an Istanbul park on Thursday in what appeared to be a final bid to end two weeks of anti-government protests through negotiation. Erdogan met the delegation, mostly made up of actors and artists but also including two members of the umbrella protest group Taksim Solidarity, hours after saying his patience had run out and warning those occupying Gezi Park to leave. "Our patience is at an end. I am making my warning for the last time. I say to the mothers and fathers please take your children in hand and bring them out ... Gezi Park does not belong to occupying forces but to the people," he said. It was unclear what triggered the apparent change of heart. A heavy-handed police crackdown on the park nearly two weeks ago triggered an unprecedented wave of protest against Erdogan and his AK Party - an association of centrists and conservative religious elements - drawing in secularists, nationalists, professionals, unionists and students. |
| Posted by:Fred |