Speaking at the general meeting of Turkish Exporters Assembly in Istanbul, Turkish PM Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that police will not leave Taksim Square.

“Police forces have been there (referring to Taksim) for dozens of years now, since before the AKP came to power. They will continue being there tomorrow too, to prevent the acts of radical groups. Governments need to take necessary measures against potential provocations of these groups and this happens not only in Turkey but also everywhere in the world”, Erdoğan said.

Admitting the use of excessive force and tear gas by police in Taksim, Erdoğan said the Interior Ministry and Police Directorate are currently examining the “mistakes” made in this respect.

He claimed that the Taksim pedestrianization project will definitely be put into practice without harming any green areas, including Gezi Park.

The PM accused the Turkish media, regardless of its mass silence about Taksim resistance, of provoking the people by broadcasting scenes of clashes. He said the pro-CHP media organizations in particular behaved in a dangerous and irresponsible way by provoking people by means of their reports.

Erdoğan continued saying that “MHP (Nationalist Movement Party), BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) and CHP (Republican People's Party) were taking to the streets by telling a lie about the alleged demolition of trees.

Addressing to the CHP leader, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Erdoğan warned him about not provoking the people at the mass demo he will stage in Kadıköy today “in solidarity with radical groups”. “I will gather people hundred times more than the people he will gather, if they make things get to that point”, he said.

Erdoğan defended that police forces were doing their duty in Taksim despite all the attacks they are being subjected to by protestors.

He called on demonstrators to urgently end their protest.