Erdogan negeert verzoek EU om geweld te staken (en)

Berlin - Members of the European Parliament on Thursday (13 June) urged the Turkish government to stop police brutality against protesters gathering for the second week in Istanbul.

The protests in Istanbul were initially sparked by a government decision to build a shopping mall in Gezi Park, one of the rare green patches in the 14 million-strong metropolis.

Erdogan has since offered to hold a local referendum on the issue, but the protests have already broadened to his conservative Islamic policies and were furthered fuelled when clashes with police killed five and injured thousands.

MEPs said they are "deeply concerned at the disproportionate and excessive use of force by Turkish police to break up peaceful and legitimate protests in Istanbul's Gezi Park."

They asked Erdogan to "take a unifying and conciliatory position" and to allow those policemen who used force on protesters to be sued and the victims compensated.

"The protesters increasingly feel that minority voices lack representation and parts of the Turkish population are dissatisfied with the recent lifestyle regulation," MEPs said, urging the government to engage in dialogue with the protesters.

Similar calls from the EU commission, the US and German governments have so far fallen on deaf ears.

Erdogan on Thursday gave a "final ultimatum" to protesters to disperse and questioned the authority of the European Parliament.

"I won't recognise the decision that the European Union parliament is going to take about us... Who do you think you are by taking such a decision?" he said.

Turkey's chief negotiator in EU membership talks Egemen Bagis also dismissed the parliament's stance.

"I see that some members of the European Parliament are using their right to talk nonsense," he said, Anatolian News Agency reports.

"Those who criticise Turkey should have a look at their own countries and how their security forces go beyond their powers in such social protests," Bagis added.

Meanwhile, the EU commission maintained its stance that EU membership talks should continue and a new "negotiation chapter" opened.

"The recent events underlined the need to engage more with Turkey especially in discussions on the political criteria, rule of law, respect for fundamental rights and freedoms and the best platform how to tackle these issues is exactly the accession process, which means opening and discussing the individual chapters," EU commission spokesman Peter Stano said in a press conference on Thursday.

He noted, however, that this is a decision for member states to take.