Baku – APA. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan stated that they will not step back from the construction plans for Taksim Gezi Park. APA reports that ErdoÄŸan met with his Tunisian counterpart, as a part of his visit to this country. At the press conference following the meeting, ErdoÄŸan was asked questions about Turkey protests and whether he will apologize to the people exposed to police violence or not. The prime minister answered that his deputy (Bulent Arinc) properly spoke about it: “If you consider the excessive use of gas bombs, we have already expressed our regret in this regard. There is no country in the world that does not use tear gas. All rights must be realized within laws. We will prevent those who say “We can hold a protest wherever we want”. They hurt innocent people and damage the state property, burn streets and buses and abuse the intentions of environmentally sensitive people”.
ErdoÄŸan said that project for Taksim square is a combination of ecology, history and culture: “This project will create a beautiful environment in Istanbul. A great opera center will be also built here. We will build better buildings instead of the destroyed ones. "
Prime Minister said that 7 foreign citizens who participated in the events were detained.
The Turkish government wants to demolish Gezi Park in Istanbul's Taksim Square and reconstruct Artillery Barracks (Topçu Kışlası). There will be offices and shopping mall in the building. Tens of thousands people gathered in Taksim after police harshly intervened in protests held by environmental organizations on May 27. The protests covered the entire country and are still going on.
The situation is expected to escalate following the recent statement of Prime Minister.
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