President Gül calls on Gezi protesters to 'go home'

ISTANBUL

After calling the protesters to end their sit-in in Istanbul's Gezi Park, President Abdullah Gül shared via Twitter pictures from his visit to three eastern Black Sea provinces. DHA photo

Turkish President Abdullah Gül has hailed the government’s latest talks with the representatives of the protesters via Twitter today, calling on the demonstrators still occupying Gezi Park to return home.

“You may have followed the statements I have made since the first day. I had said that our democracy was tested,” Abdullah Gül wrote referring to the protests that have entered their 19th day.

“The meeting and the opening of dialogue channels is the sign of democratic maturity. I believe that this process will produce good results,” he added.

Abdullah Gül also asked the protesters to end their sit-in. “Now everybody should go home,” he wrote.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had hosted in Ankara on June 12 and June 13 two different delegations representing the demonstrators. Following the second meeting with a group where members from the Taksim Solidarity Platform which launched the protests were also represented along with artists outspoken for the cause, the government announced that it would comply with a court ruling that suspended the construction project in Gezi Park.

Erdoğan himself gave guarantees on June 14 that if their appeal was upheld, the redevelopment project of the park would be put to a referendum. “If their message is about Taksim Gezi Park, their message has been received and evaluated,” he had said.