Post date: Jun 08, 2013 5:3:34 PM
Protests continue as Turkish activists call on the government to pay attention to their demands and urge the ruling AK Party for dialogue.
ANKARA, TURKEY (JUNE 8, 2013) (QUALITY AS INCOMING) (REUTERS) - Thousands of Turks dug in on Saturday (June 8) for a weekend of anti-government demonstrations despite Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's demand for an immediate end to protests that have spawned the most violent riots of his decade in power. .
What began as a campaign against the redevelopment of Gezi Park in a corner ofIstanbul's Taksim Square spiralled into an unprecedented display of public anger over the perceived authoritarianism of Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party.In a rare show of unity, fans from Istanbul's three main football clubs Besiktas, Galatasaray and Fenerbahce, who have been heavily involved in some of the protests, plan simultaneous marches on Taksim later on Saturday.
Riot police have clashed with groups of protesters night after night in cities across the country, leaving three dead and close to 5,000 injured, according to medics.
Erdogan has given no indication of plans to remove tents in Taksim, around which protesters have built barricades of paving stones and corrugated iron, clogging part of central Istanbul.
In the capital Ankara a smaller group of protesters continued to gather and chant anti-government slogans.
"We are here for freedom. We are here to defend freedom of thought, rights of young people and our right to live. We are here to protest the attacks against our right to live," said one protester.
At a news conference held in Istanbul activists urged the government to take people's protests more seriously.
"The government representatives have not contacted us for talks after the meeting of June 5," a member of Taksim Solidarity Group Mucella Yapici said.
"We are urging the government to heed to the reactions of the public and act more responsibly. We call on the government to take the necessary steps and answer to the call of millions of people," she said.
The gatherings mark a challenge to a leader whose authority is built on three successive election victories and Erdogan takes the protests as a personal affront.
Sources close to the AK Party that Erdogan founded in 2001 suggest a sense of siege within the leadership, with influential if disparate forces worried about the extent of his power.