A written announcement released by the Prime Ministry on Friday stated, "Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has cancelled his trip to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly due to his heavy schedule and workload for the September 30th AK Party Congress. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu will now lead the Turkish delegation at the New York meeting."
Prime Minister Erdoğan had been due to travel to New York between Sept. 22 and 25 and to give a speech at the U.N. assembly.
The rebellion against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is likely to be the focus of plenary and bilateral meetings in New York. Erdoğan has been one of Assad's harshest critics. Washington sees Turkey as the key player both in supporting Syria's opposition and in planning for what U.S. officials say is the inevitable collapse of the Assad government.
Responding to the European Parliament resolution condemning the police crackdown on protests sparked by redevelopment plans for Gezi Park, Prime Minister Erdoğan stated “They are confused. They have no fidelity,” and added that European politicians and institutions instantly laid down their masks in order to provoke events.
One man’s passive defiance by way of standing in place in Taksim Square and looking straight at the Atatürk Culture Center, quickly turned into a social media phenomenon last night.
Infuriating Germans, Green Party Co-Chair Roth was subjected to pepper spray in Istanbul. Commenting on the incident, German nationals say, “It turns out Erdoğan was right in saying that there are foreign forces triggering Taksim, and Roth’s presence is now proof.” Other comments include, “If Abdullah Gül showed up at Occupy Frankfurt of if Erdoğan was involved in the Stuttgart 21 demonstrations, the ground would shake!”
The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has been working continuously since last night on clearing and landscaping Taksim Square and Gezi Park.
Explaining that the Gezi Park protests were planned six months ago, EU Minister Bağış states, “These protests are an attempt to trigger a move which will end in regime change in Turkey.” Bağış also discussed Prime Minister Erdoğan’s style with the Wall Street Journal.
They came by land, they came by sea, and they came to hear their Prime Minister speak. Yesterday’s Kazlıçeşme rally in support of Prime Minister Erdoğan saw over a million supporters come out to the square with AK Party and Turkish flags in hand, giving true sentiment to the figures of Erdoğan’s support rate.
Istanbul Governor Mutlu is calling on protesters to refrain from responding to calls on social media to gather in Taksim because he says; peace has been established once again in Istanbul.
Nearly a million Istanbul residents flocked out to see Prime Minister Erdoğan speak at an AK Party rally in Kazlıçeşme on Sunday. Istanbul residents want the vandalism of protesters destroying and setting the city on fire to come to an end as soon as possible. Meanwhile, they also support Erdoğan’s referendum proposal.
On the first presidential visit to Ardahan in 18 years, President Gül had the chance to comment on the European Parliament’s resolution vote on Thursday by stating, “When reacting they need to have enough information to realize what is what.”
The number one suspect accused of planning and staging the twin bombings in the Hatay town of Reyhanlı, which killed 52 people, Nasır Eskiocak as well as three other perpetrators were arrested on Friday.
Istanbul Governor Mutlu held discussions with protesters which started late Thursday night and went on into the early morning hours of Friday. There was no lapse in respect during the talks that were both peaceful and spirited. The main questioned asked was who ordered the use of disproportionate force.
After deliberations between Prime Minister Erdoğan and other government officials with a delegation representing the Gezi Park protesters which went on into the morning hours of Friday, a decision was reached to respect judicial rulings and citizens’ opinions. Bringing the Gezi Park protests to a close with a series of artistic events is also now on the agenda.
Foreign Minister Davutoğlu says the European Parliament resolution adopted on Thursday is unacceptable and should they notify Turkey of the resolution, then Turkey will instantly return the gesture.
At 2 pm on Thursday afternoon, a Turkish youth activist group ‘Bizim Çocuklar’ (Our Youth) orchestrated a protest of what they view as the double standard exhibited by western media outside the BBC’s Turkey Office in Istanbul’s prestigious Nisantaş neighbourhood.