Turkish PM refuses to tone down rhetoric despite negotiations on Gezi

ANKARA

Eroğan has reiterated that the government's patience was 'coming to an end', making a very negative description of the situation at Gezi Park. DAILY NEWS photo, Selahattin SÖNMEZ

Resuming his rhetoric of distinguishing between “well-intended” and “ill-intended” protesters, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has resorted to an extremely bitter and threatening language in slamming those ill-intended ones.

Addressing an audience of former heads of municipalities that had been closed upon the adoption of a law on metropolitan municipalities on June 13, his remarks came just a day after he met a group of activists, an initiative considered to be a conciliatory gesture after his tone inciting tension for the past two weeks.

Erdoğan shockingly used a less than insulting approach against the “ill-intended” protesters. “Right now, Gezi Park is filled with filth, in the name of environmentalism. Some say it is magnificent and all, no offence but they should not attempt to fool us. You can hardly walk in the smell of piss and most of them are defecating there. All of that is identified. I do not mean the sincere ones. They go and fulfill their need in the hotels they made a deal with,” he said, estranging the protesters.

In line with his order of removing the “ill-intended” protesters from Taksim Square within 24 hours, Erdoğan declared that it was his “last warning” for protesters to evacuate Gezi Park. “Our patience is coming to an end. I’m making my last warning: mothers, fathers please withdraw your kids from there,” he said. 

“We cannot wait any longer because Gezi Park does not belong to occupying forces. It belongs to everybody,” he said fostering his uncompromising stance. “I am telling my sincere, environmentalist, honest brothers: Do not upset us any longer, withdraw and leave us alone with those extremist terrorist organizations.” 

Erdoğan also buttressed the actions of the police, saying that “Security force uses tear gas when needed. This is their most natural, legal right.” 

While using the verb “clearing” to refer to the harsh police intervention on June 11 in Taksim Square with the declared intention of removing flags and banners, Erdoğan also argued that in both EU law, advanced democracy, including the U.S., tear gas was used, alongside regular and colored water cannons. “They are saying those under custody must be released. Your wish is my command. We will release them immediately,” he added, sarcastically.

Erdoğan also issued a warning to the judiciary saying, “I am expecting the judiciary to fulfill its duty. I am saying this clearly. The address of this message is clear. Because using Molotovs is a crime, destroying, disrupting public peace are crimes.” 

The media was also not exempt from receiving criticism from the premier, as he said “Right now, certain media, alongside some international media institutions, are in a deceptive as much as an immoral attempt to show demonstrations as a Turkey landscape,” he said, while explaining that the reason of his planned rallies soon to take place in Ankara and Istanbul was to make the world hear the voice of the silent masses, presumably the 50 percent of the population that voted for the AKP he said they were barely holding back.