Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said he would consider holding a referendum on plans to redevelop an Istanbul park that have sparked nationwide protests, in his first major concession in nearly two weeks of anti-government unrest.
The gesture came as thousands gathered in the city’s Taksim Square, next to Gezi Park, for a 13th evening of demonstrations. The mood was subdued and peaceful, in stark contrast to the previous night when protesters fought running battles with riot police.
“We might put it to a referendum.... In democracies only the will of the people counts,” said Huseyin Celik, a spokesman for Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) after talks between Erdogan and protest leaders. “We think that after this gesture of goodwill people will decide to go home.”
A campaign to save Gezi Park’s trees from being razed to make way for a replica of Ottoman-era military barracks was met with a heavy-handed police response on May 31. The crackdown sparked a countrywide outpouring of anger against Erdogan, seen as increasingly authoritarian.
Hundreds have since been camping out in Gezi Park. Police have not interfered with the tent city that has sprung up there, but on Tuesday they retook Taksim Square, the focal point of the protest movement.
