Rel peguam di tindak balas polis untuk protes Turkey

PHOTO: AP penunjuk perasaan bertopeng adalah ‘backdropped’ oleh bendera Turki di pinggir Gezi Park, di Istanbul, Turki, Rabu, 12 Jun, 2013. Polis rusuhan melepaskan gas pemedih mata, meriam air dan peluru getah dalam pertempuran sepanjang hari yang berlangsung dalam waktu awal Rabu, melawan penunjuk perasaan yang telah menduduki pusat Taksim Square, Istanbul dan Taman Gezi bersebelahan dalam protes anti-kerajaan negara yang paling teruk dalam beberapa dekad.

PHOTO: AP A masked protester is backdropped by a Turkish flag on the edge of Gezi Park, in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, June 12, 2013. Riot police fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets in day-long clashes that lasted into the early hours Wednesday, battling protesters who have been occupying Istanbul's central Taksim Square and its adjacent Gezi Park in the country's most severe anti-government protests in decades.

Rel peguam di tindak balas polis untuk protes Turkey

by JohnnyAdam | MADAyu@1WORLDCommunity

ANKARA, Turki (AP) - Beribu-ribu peguam berjubah hitam adalah menyerang daripada courthouses mereka di Turki, menjerit tentang polis rawatan kasar ‘dished’ keluar untuk rakan-rakan mereka di tengah-tengah terbesar protes anti-kerajaan Turki dalam tahun-tahun.

Perhimpunan hari ini oleh bertepuk tangan, melaungkan ulama fuqaha menambah twist baru kepada hampir dua minggu bantahan yang bermula di Istanbul dan merebak ke berpuluh-puluh bandar-bandar Turki. Bantahan telah dibentuk sebagai ujian terbesar lagi dalam pemerintahan 10 tahun Perdana Menteri Recep Tayyip Erdogan dan kerajaan umbi Islam beliau.

Selepas pertempuran sengit dalam sekelip mata Taksim Square, Istanbul, Erdogan adalah untuk menjadi tuan rumah perbincangan dengan beberapa penunjuk perasaan di kemudian hari.

Lawyers rail at police response to Turkey protests

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Thousands of black-robed lawyers are storming out of their courthouses in Turkey, shouting about the rough treatment police dished out to their colleagues amid Turkey's biggest anti-government protest in years.

The rallies Wednesday by clapping, chanting jurists added a new twist to the nearly two weeks of protests that started in Istanbul and spread to dozens of other Turkish cities. The protests have shaped up as the biggest test yet in the 10-year rule of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamic-rooted government.

After fierce overnight clashes in Istanbul's Taksim Square, Erdogan was to host talks with some protesters later in the day.

PHOTO: AP peguam-peguam Turki dan ahli-ahli persatuan bar memegang banner (sebahagiannya dilihat) yang berbunyi "kami mahu keadilan" sebagai beberapa ribu berarak untuk menyokong protes anti-kerajaan di Ankara, Turki, awal Rabu, 12 Jun, 2013. Polis rusuhan melepaskan gas pemedih mata, meriam air dan peluru getah dalam pertempuran sepanjang hari yang berlangsung dalam waktu awal Rabu, melawan penunjuk perasaan yang telah menduduki pusat Taksim Square, Istanbul dan Taman Gezi bersebelahan dalam protes anti-kerajaan negara yang paling teruk dalam beberapa dekad.

PHOTO: AP Turkish lawyers and bar association members hold a banner (partially seen) that reads " we want justice " as some thousands march in support of anti-government protests in Ankara, Turkey, early Wednesday, June 12, 2013. Riot police fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets in day-long clashes that lasted into the early hours Wednesday, battling protesters who have been occupying Istanbul's central Taksim Square and its adjacent Gezi Park in the country's most severe anti-government protests in decades.

PHOTO: AP Beribu-ribu peguam-peguam Turki menjerit slogan kerana mereka berarak untuk menyokong protes anti-kerajaan di Ankara, Turki, awal Rabu 12 Jun, 2013. Polis rusuhan melepaskan gas pemedih mata, meriam air dan peluru getah dalam pertempuran sepanjang hari yang berlangsung dalam waktu awal Rabu, melawan penunjuk perasaan yang telah menduduki pusat Taksim Square, Istanbul dan Taman Gezi bersebelahan dalam protes anti-kerajaan negara yang paling teruk dalam beberapa dekad.

PHOTO: AP Thousands of Turkish lawyers shout slogans as they march in support of anti-government protests in Ankara, Turkey, early Wednesday, June 12, 2013. Riot police fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets in day-long clashes that lasted into the early hours Wednesday, battling protesters who have been occupying Istanbul's central Taksim Square and its adjacent Gezi Park in the country's most severe anti-government protests in decades.

PHOTO: AP penunjuk perasaan Turki menunjukkan sebuah buku yang mengandungi ucapan bersejarah yang disampaikan oleh Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, pengasas Turki, berkata "Dia ayah kami, pemimpin kami dan mentor kami," sambil duduk di Kugulu Park di Ankara, Turki, Rabu, 12 Jun, 2013. Turki Perdana Menteri Recep Tayyip Erdogan, dan beberapa menteri dan penasihat beliau bertemu dengan sekumpulan aktivis di pejabat beliau di Keadilan dan beliau Parti Pembangunan di Ankara pada hari Rabu. Aktivis lain mempunyai keraguan tentang kesahihan rundingan dan berkata kumpulan itu tidak wakil penunjuk perasaan di atas tanah.

PHOTO: AP A Turkish protester shows a book containing a historical speech delivered by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Turkey's founder, saying "He's our father, our leader and our mentor", while sitting in Kugulu Park in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, June 12, 2013. Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and some of his ministers and advisors met with a group of activists in his offices at his Justice and Development Party in Ankara on Wednesday. Other activists had doubts about the talks' legitimacy and said the group was not representative of the protesters on the ground.

PHOTO: AP Penunjuk perasaan berehat di khemah di Gezi Park, di Istanbul, Turki, rabu, 12 Jun, 2013. Polis rusuhan melepaskan gas pemedih mata, meriam air dan peluru getah dalam pertempuran sepanjang hari yang berlangsung dalam waktu awal Rabu, melawan penunjuk perasaan yang telah menduduki pusat Taksim Square, Istanbul dan Taman Gezi bersebelahan dalam protes anti-kerajaan negara yang paling teruk dalam beberapa dekad.

PHOTO: AP Protesters rest in a tent in Gezi Park, in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, June 12, 2013. Riot police fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets in day-long clashes that lasted into the early hours Wednesday, battling protesters who have been occupying Istanbul's central Taksim Square and its adjacent Gezi Park in the country's most severe anti-government protests in decades.

PHOTO: AP Seorang penunjuk perasaan, muka berlumuran oleh penawar gas pemedih mata, tidur di Gezi Park di Istanbul, Turki, rabu, 12 Jun, 2013. Polis rusuhan melepaskan gas pemedih mata, meriam air dan peluru getah dalam pertempuran sepanjang hari yang berlangsung dalam waktu awal Rabu, melawan penunjuk perasaan yang telah menduduki pusat Taksim Square, Istanbul dan Taman Gezi bersebelahan dalam protes anti-kerajaan negara yang paling teruk dalam beberapa dekad.

PHOTO: AP A protester, face stained by tear gas antidote, sleeps in Gezi Park in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, June 12, 2013. Riot police fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets in day-long clashes that lasted into the early hours Wednesday, battling protesters who have been occupying Istanbul's central Taksim Square and its adjacent Gezi Park in the country's most severe anti-government protests in decades.

PHOTO: AP Penunjuk perasaan tidur di Gezi Park, di Istanbul, Turki, rabu, 12 Jun, 2013. Polis rusuhan melepaskan gas pemedih mata, meriam air dan peluru getah dalam pertempuran sepanjang hari yang berlangsung dalam waktu awal Rabu, melawan penunjuk perasaan yang telah menduduki pusat Taksim Square, Istanbul dan Taman Gezi bersebelahan dalam protes anti-kerajaan negara yang paling teruk dalam beberapa dekad.

PHOTO: AP Protesters sleep in Gezi Park, in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, June 12, 2013. Riot police fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets in day-long clashes that lasted into the early hours Wednesday, battling protesters who have been occupying Istanbul's central Taksim Square and its adjacent Gezi Park in the country's most severe anti-government protests in decades.

PHOTO: AP penunjuk perasaan yang cedera semasa pertempuran berjalan polis rusuhan lalu sekitar penunjuk perasaan Turki yang sedang duduk di Kugulu Park di Ankara, Turki, RABU 12 Jun, 2013. Turki Perdana Menteri Recep Tayyip Erdogan, dan beberapa menteri dan penasihat beliau bertemu dengan dengan sekumpulan aktivis di pejabat beliau di Keadilan dan beliau Parti Pembangunan di Ankara pada hari Rabu. Aktivis lain mempunyai keraguan tentang kesahihan rundingan dan berkata kumpulan itu tidak wakil penunjuk perasaan di atas tanah.

PHOTO: AP A protester who was injured during clashes walks past riot police surrounding Turkish protesters who were sitting in Kugulu Park in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, June 12, 2013. Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and some of his ministers and advisors met with with a group of activists in his offices at his Justice and Development Party in Ankara on Wednesday. Other activists had doubts about the talks' legitimacy and said the group was not representative of the protesters on the ground.

Photo: AP manuver penjual pretzels cart di hadapan sekumpulan besar polis rusuhan di Taksim persegi di Istanbul, Turki, Rabu 12 Jun, 2013. Polis rusuhan melepaskan gas pemedih mata, meriam air dan peluru getah dalam pertempuran sepanjang hari yang berlangsung dalam waktu awal Rabu, melawan penunjuk perasaan yang telah menduduki pusat Taksim Square, Istanbul dan Taman Gezi bersebelahan dalam protes anti-kerajaan negara yang paling teruk dalam beberapa dekad.

Photo: AP A pretzels vendor maneuvers his cart in front of a large group of riot police in Taksim square in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, June 12, 2013. Riot police fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets in day-long clashes that lasted into the early hours Wednesday, battling protesters who have been occupying Istanbul's central Taksim Square and its adjacent Gezi Park in the country's most severe anti-government protests in decades.

Photo: AP penunjuk perasaan bertopeng adalah ‘backdropped’ oleh bendera Turki berhampiran benteng di pinggir Gezi Park, di Istanbul, Turki, Rabu 12 Jun, 2013. Polis rusuhan melepaskan gas pemedih mata, meriam air dan peluru getah dalam pertempuran sepanjang hari yang berlangsung dalam waktu awal Rabu, melawan penunjuk perasaan yang telah menduduki pusat Taksim Square, Istanbul dan Taman Gezi bersebelahan dalam protes anti-kerajaan negara yang paling teruk dalam beberapa dekad.

Photo: AP A masked protester is backdropped by a Turkish flag near a barricade on the edge of Gezi Park, in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, June 12, 2013. Riot police fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets in day-long clashes that lasted into the early hours Wednesday, battling protesters who have been occupying Istanbul's central Taksim Square and its adjacent Gezi Park in the country's most severe anti-government protests in decades.

Photo: AP Ahli persatuan bar peguam Turki menjerit slogan seperti beberapa ribu berarak untuk menyokong protes anti-kerajaan di Ankara, Turki, awal Rabu 12 Jun, 2013. Polis rusuhan melepaskan gas pemedih mata, meriam air dan peluru getah dalam pertempuran sepanjang hari yang berlangsung dalam waktu awal Rabu, melawan penunjuk perasaan yang telah menduduki pusat Taksim Square, Istanbul dan Taman Gezi bersebelahan dalam protes anti-kerajaan negara yang paling teruk dalam beberapa dekad.

Photo: AP Members of the Turkish bar association lawyers shout slogans as some thousands march in support of anti-government protests in Ankara, Turkey, early Wednesday, June 12, 2013. Riot police fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets in day-long clashes that lasted into the early hours Wednesday, battling protesters who have been occupying Istanbul's central Taksim Square and its adjacent Gezi Park in the country's most severe anti-government protests in decades.

Photo: AP Perdana Menteri Turki Recep Tayyip Erdogan, kanan, dan beberapa menteri dan penasihat beliau bertemu dengan dengan sekumpulan aktivis di pejabat beliau di Keadilan dan Parti beliau Pembangunan di Ankara, Turki, rabu 12 Jun, 2013. Tidak ada pengumuman rasmi mengenai siapa sebenarnya telah mengambil bahagian _ dan sama ada mesyuarat itu akan dapat broker menamatkan protes. Aktivis mempunyai keraguan tentang kesahihan rundingan. Seorang pelakon dan penyanyi _ dengan sambungan jelas kepada penunjuk perasaan _ telah bersetuju untuk mengambil bahagian, dan beberapa pemimpin kumpulan-kumpulan masyarakat sivil, termasuk Greenpeace, berkata mereka tidak akan mengambil bahagian kerana sebuah "Persekitaran Keganasan" di Turki.

Photo: AP Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and some of his ministers and advisors meet with with a group of activists in his offices at his Justice and Development Party in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, June 12, 2013. There was no official announcement as to who exactly was be taking part _ and whether the meeting would be able to broker an end to the protests. Activists had doubts about the talks' legitimacy. An actor and a singer _ with unclear connections to the protesters _ had agreed to take part, and some leaders of civil society groups, including Greenpeace, had said they would not participate because of an “environment of violence” in Turkey.

Kerajaan turkish terbuka kepada referendum kepada bantahan akhir

ISTANBUL (AP) - Kerajaan Turki pada Rabu menawarkan isyarat konkrit pertama bertujuan menamatkan hampir 2 minggu protes jalanan, mencadangkan referendum ke atas projek pembangunan di Istanbul yang mencetuskan demonstrasi yang telah menjadi cabaran terbesar kepada Perdana Menteri Recep Tayyip Erdogan 10 - tempoh tahun.

Penunjuk perasaan menyatakan keraguan tentang tawaran itu, bagaimanapun, dan terus berkumpul di Gezi Park Taksim Square, pusat protes anti-kerajaan yang bermula di Istanbul 13 hari yang lalu dan telah tersebar ke seluruh negara. Pada masa-masa, polis telah memecahkan demonstrasi menggunakan gas pemedih mata, meriam air dan peluru getah.

Protes meletus 31 Mei selepas tindakan keras polis ganas pada aman ‘sit-in’ oleh aktivis membantah projek pembangunan yang akan menggantikan Gezi Park dengan replika- era berek Uthmaniyyah. Mereka kemudian merebak ke berpuluh-puluh bandar-bandar, menghimpunkan puluhan ribu orang setiap malam.

Dalam Pertelingkahan lewat Rabu di Ankara, polis menggunakan gas pemedih mata dan meriam air untuk menyuraikan beberapa penunjuk perasaan 2,500 yang menubuhkan penghadang sementara di jalan menuju ke pejabat-pejabat kerajaan.

Cadangan referendum datang selepas Erdogan, yang telah ingkar dan tidak berkompromi dalam beberapa hari kebelakangan ini, bertemu dengan sekumpulan 11 aktivis termasuk ahli akademik, pelajar dan artis, di Ankara.

Walau bagaimanapun, kumpulan-kumpulan yang terlibat dalam protes di Taksim dan taman memulaukan mesyuarat itu, mengatakan mereka tidak dijemput dan hadirin tidak mewakili mereka.

Greenpeace berkata ia tidak melibatkan diri kerana satu "persekitaran keganasan" di negara ini, manakala Taksim Solidarity, yang telah menyelaraskan banyak pendudukan Gezi Park, berkata ia tidak dijemput.

Kumpulan itu mengulangi permintaan bahawa Gezi kekal sebagai taman awam, pegawai-pegawai kanan kesat akan dipecat, dan semua penunjuk perasaan yang ditahan dibebaskan - bukan isu referendum akan menangani.

Tetapi perbincangan ini adalah tanda pertama bahawa Erdogan sedang mencari jalan keluar dari pertarungan, dan beberapa jam selepas beberapa pemimpin Eropah melahirkan kebimbangan mengenai kuat bersenjata taktik polis Turki baru-baru ini dan berharap bahawa Perdana Menteri akan melembutkan pendirian beliau.

Huseyin Celik, jurucakap untuk Keadilan dan Pembangunan umbi Islam parti Erdogan, mengumumkan bahawa ia akan menimbang mengadakan referendum ke atas projek pembangunan.

Tetapi dia berkata apa-apa undi tidak termasuk perobohan yang dirancang pusat budaya yang penunjuk perasaan juga menentang, menegaskan ia adalah di kawasan gempa bumi yang sering berlaku dan terpaksa turun.

Dalam nota yang lebih ingkar, beliau berkata ‘sit-in’ Gezi Park berterusan tidak akan dibenarkan untuk terus "hingga hari kiamat" - tanda bahawa pihak berkuasa kesabaran kehabisan.

Tetapi Celik juga memetik Erdogan sebagai berkata bahawa pihak polis akan disiasat, dan apa-apa yang didapati telah menggunakan kekerasan yang berlebihan terhadap penunjuk perasaan akan dihukum.

Erdogan, yang telah membuat tuntutan bantahan telah dirancang oleh pelampau dan "pengganas" telah menjadi tunjang kemarahan penunjuk perasaan. Jadi referendum akan berjudi politik bahawa kerajaan boleh menggerakkan penyokongnya, menang undi dan penunjuk perasaan akan pulang ke rumah.

"Keputusan yang paling konkrit mesyuarat adalah ini:. Kita boleh mengambil isu ini kepada rakyat Istanbul dalam referendum Kita boleh meminta rakyat Istanbul jika mereka mahu ia (barracks/berek)," kata Celik. "Kami akan bertanya kepada mereka:" Adakah anda menerima apa yang berlaku, adakah anda mahu atau tidak? "

Tetapi ramai penunjuk perasaan ragu-ragu. "Saya tidak fikir apa-apa yang berubah dengan itu," kata Hatice Yamak pelan referendum. "Kami tidak fikir beliau akan melakukannya - Saya fikir dia berbohong." Penunjuk perasaan lain yang mencurigakan bagaimana undi akan diadakan.

"Saya fikir akan ada referendum, tetapi ia tidak akan berlaku adil," kata Mert Yildirim, 28 tahun yang telah menghadiri protes setiap malam. "Mereka akan mengumumkan bahawa orang mahu Gezi Park untuk menjadi sebuah pusat membeli-belah. Mereka akan menipu."

Tetapi gerakan Erdogan boleh membuktikan berakal dengan meletakkan penunjuk perasaan dalam kedudukan yang menolak referendum - satu senaman quintessential demokrasi. Ramai daripada mereka telah dituduh Erdogan, yang telah dipilih semula pada tahun 2011 dan telah dipengerusikan pertumbuhan ekonomi yang menarik, menunjukkan satu coretan semakin autoritarian.

"(Cadangan referendum) jatuh pendek, dan ia tidak akan membantu. Ini bukan cara perancangan bandar dilakukan," kata Korhan Gumus, arkitek dan ahli Taksim Perpaduan Platform kumpulan aktivis. "Referendum akan mempertentangkan masyarakat lebih. (Gezi Park) akan menjadi medan pertempuran."

Parti jurucakap Celik muncul yakin bahawa Erdogan akan membuktikan kewajaran di peti undi: "Kami tidak dapat meramalkan keputusan orang, tetapi kami percaya bahawa orang-orang kita akan sampingan dengan kedudukan parti kita."

Seolah-olah untuk memberitahu cadangan referendum tenggelam dalam, Gabenor Istanbul, Huseyin Avni Mutlu, tweeted bahawa polis rusuhan tidak akan memasuki taman pada hari Rabu. Pemimpin Turki juga bergelut dengan imej noda awam.

Rangkaian TV antarabangsa telah dipancarkan imej pertempuran di dataran, termasuk menyapu polis otot semalaman Selasa Rabu bahawa Hak Asasi Manusia Turki Yayasan berkata mencederakan lebih 600 orang, termasuk seorang bayi 1-tahun.

Di London, Perdana Menteri Britain, David Cameron dipanggil peristiwa di Istanbul "mengganggu dan berkenaan," sementara berhenti pendek mengkritik tindak balas Erdogan. Seorang jurucakap Canselor Angela Merkel berkata, kerajaan Jerman telah menonton perkembangan "dengan keasyikan yang besar," dan menggesa "de-peningkatan."

Sejak dua minggu, empat orang terbunuh dalam protes, termasuk seorang pegawai polis, dan lebih daripada 5,000 orang telah cedera atau mendapatkan rawatan bagi gas pemedih mata.

Bantahan mengambil rasa yang baru lebih awal hari ini apabila beribu-ribu peguam berjubah hitam menyerbu daripada courthouses mereka untuk mencemuh rawatan didakwa kasar rakan-rakan mereka yang ditahan oleh pihak polis sehari sebelum itu.

Sema Aksoy, timbalan ketua persatuan peguam Ankara, kata peguam-peguam telah digari dan ditarik ke atas tanah. Beliau yang dikenali sebagai tindakan polis satu penghinaan kepada sistem kehakiman Turki.

"Peguam tidak boleh diseret di atas tanah!" peguam menunjukkan menjerit dalam irama ketika mereka bergerak keluar dari mahkamah Istanbul. Polis rusuhan berdiri ke sisi, perisai yang siap sedia.

 Jurucakap Broadcasting Corp Kanada berkata, polis telah menahan 2 wartawan yang meliputi protes di Istanbul. Sasa Petricic dan Derek Stoffel berada dalam "keadaan yang baik," kata jurucakap PJK Chuck Thompson. Kanada Menteri Luar John Baird dipanggil duta Turki untuk menyatakan kebimbangan beliau.

Keaten dilaporkan dari Ankara. Suzan Fraser dan Ezgi Akin dalam Ankara, Vinograd Cassandra di London, Juergen Baetz di Berlin, dan Rob Gillies di Toronto menyumbang kepada laporan ini.

Photo: AP Penunjuk perasaan melaungkan slogan-slogan anti-kerajaan, silhouetted oleh cahaya suar di Taksim persegi, di Istanbul, Turki, lewat Rabu, 12 Jun, 2013. Kerajaan Turki pada Rabu ditawarkan isyarat konkrit pertama bertujuan menamatkan hampir 2 minggu protes jalanan, mencadangkan referendum ke atas projek pembangunan di Istanbul yang mencetuskan demonstrasi yang telah menjadi cabaran terbesar untuk tempoh Perdana Menteri Recep Tayyip Erdogan 10 tahun.

Photo: AP Protesters chant anti-government slogans, silhouetted by the light of flares in Taksim square, in Istanbul, Turkey, late Wednesday, June 12, 2013. Turkey's government on Wednesday offered a first concrete gesture aimed at ending nearly two weeks of street protests, proposing a referendum on a development project in Istanbul that triggered demonstrations that have become the biggest challenge to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 10-year tenure.

Photo: AP Perdana Menteri Turki Recep Tayyip Erdogan menangani datuk bandar dari Keadilan pemerintah dan Parti Pembangunan di Ankara, Turki, Khamis, 13 Jun, 2013. (Photo: AP Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the mayors from his ruling Justice and Development Party in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, June 13, 2013).

Photo: AP Perdana Menteri Turki Recep Tayyip Erdogan menangani datuk bandar dari Keadilan pemerintah dan Parti Pembangunan di Ankara, Turki, Khamis, 13 Jun, 2013. (Photo: AP Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the mayors from his ruling Justice and Development Party in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, June 13, 2013).

Turkish gov't open to referendum to end protests

ISTANBUL (AP) - Turkey's government on Wednesday offered a first concrete gesture aimed at ending nearly two weeks of street protests, proposing a referendum on a development project in Istanbul that triggered demonstrations that have become the biggest challenge to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 10-year tenure.

Protesters expressed doubts about the offer, however, and continued to converge in Taksim Square's Gezi Park, epicenter of the anti-government protests that began in Istanbul 13 days ago and spread across the country. At times, police have broken up demonstrations using tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets.

The protests erupted May 31 after a violent police crackdown on a peaceful sit-in by activists objecting to a development project that would replace Gezi Park with a replica Ottoman-era barracks. They then spread to dozens of cities, rallying tens of thousands of people each night.

In a skirmish late Wednesday in Ankara, police used tear gas and water cannon to break up some 2,500 protesters who set up makeshift barricades on a road leading to government offices.

The referendum proposal came after Erdogan, who had been defiant and uncompromising in recent days, met with a group of 11 activists, including academics, students and artists, in Ankara. However, groups involved in the protests in Taksim and the park boycotted the meeting, saying they weren't invited and the attendees didn't represent them.

Greenpeace said it didn't participate because of an "environment of violence" in the country, while Taksim Solidarity, which has been coordinating much of the occupation of Gezi Park, said it had not been invited.

The group reiterated its demands that Gezi remain a public park, that abusive senior officials be fired, and all detained protesters be released - not issues the referendum would address.

But the discussion was the first sign that Erdogan was looking for an exit from the showdown, and came hours after some European leaders expressed concern about recent strong-armed Turkish police tactics and hopes that the prime minister would soften his stance.

Huseyin Celik, spokesman for Erdogan's Islamic-rooted Justice and Development party, announced it would consider holding a referendum over the development project. But he said any vote would exclude the planned demolition of a cultural center that the protesters also oppose, insisting it was in an earthquake-prone area and had to come down.

In a more defiant note, he said the ongoing sit-in in Gezi Park would not be allowed to continue "until doomsday" - a sign that authorities' patience is running out. But Celik also quoted Erdogan as saying that police would be investigated, and any found to have used excessive force against protesters would be punished.

Erdogan, who has claimed the protests were orchestrated by extremists and "terrorists," has become the centerpiece of the protesters' ire. So a referendum would be a political gamble that the government can mobilize its supporters, win the vote and the demonstrators would go home.

"The most concrete result of the meeting was this: we can take this issue to the people of Istanbul in a referendum. We can ask the people of Istanbul if they want it (the barracks)," Celik said. "We will ask them: 'Do you accept what's going on, do you want it or not?'"

But many protesters were skeptical. "I don't think anything changed with that," said Hatice Yamak of the referendum plan. "We don't think he will do it - I think he's lying." Other protesters were suspicious of how the vote would be held.

"I think there will be a referendum but it won't be fair," said Mert Yildirim, a 28-year-old who had been attending the protests every night. "They will announce that the people want Gezi Park to become a shopping mall. They will cheat."

But Erdogan's maneuver could prove shrewd, by putting the protesters in a position of rejecting a referendum - a quintessential exercise of democracy. Many of them have accused Erdogan, who was re-elected in 2011 and has presided over striking economic growth, of showing an increasingly authoritarian streak.

"(The referendum proposal) falls short, and it won't help. This is not the way town planning is done," said Korhan Gumus, an architect and member of the Taksim Solidarity Platform activist group. "The referendum will polarize society even more. (Gezi Park) will become a battleground."

Party spokesman Celik appeared confident that Erdogan would be vindicated at the ballot box: "We cannot predict the decision of the people, but we believe that our people will side with our party's position."

As if to let the referendum proposal sink in, the Istanbul governor, Huseyin Avni Mutlu, tweeted that riot police would not enter the park on Wednesday. Turkish leaders were also grappling with a public image stain. International TV networks have beamed images of clashes on the square, including a muscular police sweep overnight Tuesday to Wednesday that Turkey's Human Rights Foundation said injured more than 600 people, including a 1-year-old baby.

In London, British Prime Minister David Cameron called the events in Istanbul "disturbing and concerning," while stopping short of criticizing Erdogan's response. A spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany's government was watching developments "with great preoccupation," and urged "de-escalation."

Over the two weeks, four people have died in the protests, including a police officer, and more than 5,000 people have been injured or sought treatment for tear gas. The protests took a new flavor earlier Wednesday as thousands of black-robed lawyers stormed out of their courthouses to deride allegedly rough treatment of their colleagues detained by police a day earlier.

Sema Aksoy, the deputy head of the Ankara lawyer's association, said the lawyers were handcuffed and pulled over the ground. She called the police action an affront to Turkey's judicial system.

"Lawyers can't be dragged on the ground!" the demonstrating lawyers shouted in rhythm as they marched out of an Istanbul courthouse. Riot police stood off to the side, shields at the ready. A spokesman for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said police had detained two of its reporters covering the protests in Istanbul.

Sasa Petricic and Derek Stoffel were in "good condition," CBC spokesman Chuck Thompson said. Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird called the Turkish ambassador to express his concerns.

Keaten reported from Ankara. Suzan Fraser and Ezgi Akin in Ankara, Cassandra Vinograd in London, Juergen Baetz in Berlin, and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.