urkish protesters have refused to vacate Istanbul’s Gezi Park despite a concession by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to halt the site’s redevelopment ahead of a court ruling.
Saturday’s decision could see police again intervene in what is already a major showdown between the protesters and the government.
“We will continue our resistance in the face of any injustice and unfairness taking place in our country,” the Taksim Solidarity group, seen as most representative of the protesters, said in a statement on Saturday.
The decision came a day after Erdogan met with the group, along with artists and actors.
Erdogan had accepted to delay the redevelopment of Gezi Park pending a court decision on its legality. He also said a referendum would be held to determine the park’s fate even if the court ruled in favour of redevelopment.
Taksim Solidarity had initially responded coolly to the referendum idea and vowed to take Erdogan’s proposals to Gezi Park, where protesters held discussion forums into the night to come up with the joint response.
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