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Turkish deputy PM to meet protesters on Wednesday

05 June 2013 05:00 (UTC +04:00)

Arinc agreed to meet with organizers of the protests at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, according to the report.

Following his meeting with Turkish President Abdullah Gul on Tuesday, Arinc said that the government respects citizens' democratic demands as long as "they abstain from violence."

When asked by reporters if the government would offer apologies to citizens subjected to violent crackdown by the police, Arinc said that "I apologize to those who gathered with sincere feelings in Gezi (Park), but I don't owe any apology to others."

In Istanbul, some 100,000 people took to the streets over the weekend. Some protesters threw stones at the windows of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's office in the city, while others torched the offices of ruling Justice and Development Party.