Turkey reopened an Istanbul park at the heart of last month’s demonstrations against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and protest leaders called a rally there for Monday evening in defiance of the city governor.
Istanbul Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu announced the reopening three weeks after riot police expelled protesters from Gezi Park following a fortnight of frequently violent protests against plans to redevelop the area.
The protests rapidly mutated into nationwide demonstrations against Erdogan, accused by critics after a decade in power of ruling in an increasingly authoritarian fashion. The unrest died down in late June, but on Saturday police fired teargas and water cannon to disperse protesters who sought to march on Taksim Square and the adjoining park.
“We have seen with the visit carried out today that all our work has been completed,” Mutlu told reporters in the park, which has been spruced up with the planting of new trees, plants and lawns since the protesters were evicted on June 15.
Soon after the opening, hundreds of people young and old converged on the park, some strolling along its paths and many lounging on benches and newly-laid lawn under the shade of trees on a hot Istanbul afternoon.
Small groups, both pro- and anti-government, gathered to discuss the protests and simmering tensions were evident.
“People became brothers here, and it will be very crowded tonight because we all missed that brotherhood. This park will always be the symbol of people’s unity, power and harmony,” university student Ozer Sari, 22, told Reuters.
PROTEST MEETING PLANNED: Taksim Solidarity, combining political and non-governmental groups opposed to the construction of a replica Ottoman era barracks on the site of the park, has called for its supporters to hold a public meeting there at 7 p.m. (12:00 p.m. EDT). Governor Mutlu warned against renewed demonstrations.
“Blocking the parks, making them areas for demonstrations, preventing children, elderly and people from using these areas and turning this into a security problem – we would never ever allow that,” he said.
Four people were killed and 7,500 wounded in last month’s police crackdown, according to the Turkish Medical Association.
