Turkish leader defend his 'duty' to end protests

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday it was his “duty” to order riot police to evict activists occupying an Istanbul park that became a center of defiance against his rule, even as the government crackdown continued across town with tear gas fired at protesters trying to regroup.

In a thunderous speech to hundreds of thousands of supporters in western Istanbul, Erdogan also railed against foreign media coverage of the unrest amid criticism over his government’s handling of the protests that left his international image battered, and exposed deep rifts within Turkish society.

About six miles away in central Istanbul, riot police fired tear gas and used water cannons on thousands of defiant protesters attempting to regroup and demonstrate again in the city’s main Taksim Square. Clashes broke out in nearby neighborhoods with stone-throwing youths.

Protesters are angry over the eviction of overwhelmingly peaceful activ- ists at Gezi Park, next to Taksim Square, who oppose government plans to rip down its trees and erect a replica Ottomanera barracks. But the protests quickly spiraled into a widespread denunciation of what many say is Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian way of governing — charges he vehemently denies.

Speaking to his supporters, Erdogan recalled telling Interior Ministry officials: “You are going to clear Gezi Park. We have reached an end. We cannot stand it anymore.’ And as you know, yesterday the operation was carried out, and it was cleared.”

“I did my duty as prime minister,” he said, “Otherwise there would be no point in my being in office.”

Police in uniform and plain clothes sealed off Taksim Square and Gezi Park, which riot police cleared of thousands of peaceful protesters in a swift but muscular operation Saturday evening. Crews worked through the night to remove all traces of a sit-in that started more than two weeks ago and became the focus of the strongest challenge to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in his 10 years in office.