ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday has said, "l do not recognize any decision that the parliament of the European Union will make on Turkey" over Gezi Park protests.
He said the cost of material damage in Taksim Gezi Park protests was over 100 million Turkish liras. "Does it suit with those people who call themselves patriotic?" he asked.
Erdogan mentioned a meeting held on Wednesday with a group of Taksim Gezi Park activists, and said he had offered a plebiscite for the future of Gezi Park.
"Some of the friends at the meeting were happy about it and some were not. However, you are either going to say 'yes' to the plebiscite or 'yes' to our implementations."
Moreover, Erdogan said, "The era of showdown on the streets is totally over in Turkey. The era of extorting the nation's will on streets is over. The era of suppressing, terrifying and scaring the people is over."
Turkish pm accuses foreign media of 'exaggerating' Gezi Park protests
Erdogan on Thursday accused foreign media corporations of biased and inaccurate reporting of Gezi Park protests.
"It's as if the whole of Turkey is burning and is demolished. In some local areas this happened. Who did this, the lovers of this country, the environmentalists? Who set public buildings on fire? Who set buses on fire? Who light up the vehicles of the security forces? Who set 200 cars of my beloved people on fire?" Erdogan asked.
"Yesterday over 30 protestors were taken into custody at the London protests against the upcoming G8 meeting. London police dragged them on the ground. However, some Turkish media groups supporting the protests in Turkey did not even broadcast video footage or photos from London."
Erdogan also defied a non-binding resolution by the European Parliament which expressed concern over “the disproportionate and excessive use of force” by Turkish police.
"l do not recognize any decision that the parliament of the European Union makes on Turkey" Erdogan told a meeting of his Justice and Development (AK) Party.
Erdogan said the EP has failed to make a statement over G8 protests in London, "its own member country [...] Turkey is not a member of the EU right now. How come the members of its parliament took a decision that concerns my country? How could they dare?"
"They (the EU) have this guy who is responsible for enlargement. He visits Turkey frequently and holds talks with us. He is unable to present an antithesis before me but he posts on Twitter against us. Do you think this is moral? And on the other hand, there is this social democrat who previously criticized Turkey's main opposition. Now he is making a new statement criticizing us this time to correct his supposed mistake. Does he really know what is going on here in Turkey?"
