ISTANBUL — Refusing to yield to a week of protests in dozens of Turkish cities, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday that a redevelopment project that included the destruction of a park in central Istanbul would proceed as planned.
Speaking at a joint news conference in Tunis with his Tunisian counterpart as part of a North African tour, Erdogan acknowledged that the initial large protest in Istanbul's Taksim Square last Friday was based on environmental concerns, but said that the subsequent destruction of public property in riots that spread to more than 60 cities was unacceptable.
"Their problem is different," he said, referring to the Taksim Square protesters, in a speech that was broadcast live in Turkey. "Environment does not only mean the green, but also history and culture. Environment does not mean destroying public tools and machines."
The protesters were objecting to the government's plans to raze Gezi Park in Taksim Square, the last significant green space in central Istanbul, and erect a replica of Ottoman-era military barracks.
Initial plans called for the barracks to house a shopping mall, but Erdogan has also said a cultural center might be built inside; it was unclear on Thursday what the barracks would contain.
"We are going to rebuild Topcu Kislasi in accordance with its original plan," he said, referring to the name given to the barracks. "We are rebuilding a monument that existed there in the past."
"We planted many trees in the last 10 years," he continued. "Our Taksim project is one that holds history, environment, and culture together."
Two protesters have been killed in the civil unrest, which has drawn a violent response from riot police officers using tear gas and water cannons. Interior Minister Muammer Guler, in a statement on Thursday reported by the semiofficial Anatolian News Agency, said 79 people received medical treatment for injuries received during the riots. Four were in critical condition.
He said 117 people had been detained, including six foreigners. Nearly all have been released, he said, adding that investigations were underway to identify social media users making "provocative efforts to incite our nation."
In Izmir, a major city on the west coast, more than 35 high school and college students were detained on Tuesday because of messages they shared over Twitter, which has become a leading tool in coordinating antigovernment protests.
Their detentions prompted a protest from Metin Feyzioglu, head of the Turkish Bar Association. "We demand the hasty approach in filing indictments against tweeting youth to be repeated even stronger in dealing with the police that violently beat citizens," said Feyzioglu, according to the Anatolian News Agency.
Erdogan again blamed radical organizations for spreading the protests beyond Istanbul, including a left-wing organization accused in a suicide bombing at the US Embassy in Ankara, the capital, in February that killed a Turkish security guard.
In response to a question from NTV, a private news network, at the Tunis news conference, Erdogan said he agreed with the apology for the brutal police crackdown offered on Tuesday by Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc. "My deputy made the necessary statements," Erdogan said. "We expressed our grief over the use of excessive gas."
He also promised Turks that Istanbul's shuttered opera house, the Ataturk Cultural Center, would be replaced by a building that would satisfy the public. Some government opponents have objected to plans to raze the opera house as part of the Taksim project.
Back at Gezi Park on Thursday, Turks responded to Erdogan's latest remarks with resignation and disappointment.
Some said they had assumed that Erdogan would reject their demands. But others said they had expected more.
"'Enough is enough, both sides have struggled, now it's time for me to accept my people's demands,' I expected him to say," said Hulya, 42, a civil servant who declined to provide her surname under legal restrictions covering statements by public workers.