BAKU (Azerbaijan), June 12- The Turkish protests are directed against the economy and politics of the country, Azerbaijan’s Trend news agency reported, quoting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying to Turkey’s TRT Haber TV channel on Tuesday.
Erdogan said that four people were killed during the riots, including a policeman.
He added that the protesters did not realised the amount of damages made to the country’s economy and tourism as a result of the protests.
According to Erdogan, about 80 per cent of reservations were cancelled due to the protests in Turkey.
“The government must not remain silent when the radical groups are damaging the country’s economy,” Erdogan said, urging the protests to stop.
Protests against the reconstruction of Gezi Park on Taksim Square in Istanbul have lasted for more than 10 days.
The Istanbul police blocked the roads leading to the Taksim Square on Tuesday morning where several groups of protester continue protesting.
Earlier, Istanbul’s governor, Huseyin Avni Mutlu, said that the police will not use force against protesters on Taksim Square
He added that the purpose of the police is to clean the area from the anti-government posters and remove the barricades.
Trend also reported that the Turkish Prime Minister will meet withrepresentatives of the Taksim Square protesters on June 12.
– BERNAMA
