Turkey: Gezi Park protesters refuse to leave, vow to 'continue resistance'

The protesters have announced today that they will continue to “stand guard” at Gezi Park and vowed to "pursue resistance," despite repeated calls for the end of the demonstrations after the government assured that it would comply with a court decision suspending the redevelopment plans for Gezi Park. “On the 18th day of our resistance, we are continuing to stand guard for our park, city, trees, living spaces private lives, freedoms and future,” the Taksim Solidarity Platform, which has been at the center of the protests since the first day, said in a written statement. “We will follow whether our demands [are carried out]. This resistance will be the reflection of the Taksim Solidarity’s common will and the common flag of a whole struggle. From now on, we will continue the resistance against every injustice in our country with the dynamism and force of our struggle that extended to the whole nation, or even to the world,” it added, calling for concrete steps toward the investigation of the four casualties during the protests. “We will follow closely whether those responsible for this violence are brought to justice.” Representatives of the platform that had a late night meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on June 13 informed the protesters at the park about the content of the discussions. The protesters debated throughout the night their next move in seven different discussion forums to reach a common decision. The tendency had been leaning towards the continuation of the demonstrations. “Despite the policies of violence, we saw that we could gather, debate, associate and fight together with the richness of our different tendencies. The Gezi resistance has succeeded in preserving its peaceful posture against police violence,” the statement also said, adding that the protests would be an inspiration for future civil movements. “The most important thing that we learned in this process is that the struggle cannot be limited by space and time and that it will continue in the future in every square meter of the city, the country and life.” Erdoğan yesterday, and President Abdullah Gül earlier today, had called on the protesters to “return home.” After insisting that he would not step back from the historic barracks project that was set to be built on the site of the park, Erdoğan had said that the protesters’ message was received. However, staying on a harsh tone, he had warned that the officials would resort “to different measures” if the protests were not brought to an end.