Turkey's ruling party says it is open to holding a referendum on an Istanbul park redevelopment plan that has been the catalyst of ongoing anti-government protests that have rocked the country for nearly two weeks.
The announcement, from Justice and Development party spokesman Huseyin Celik, came after Turkey's prime minister met with public figures in hopes of diffusing the protests.
Celik also said those in Istanbul's Gezi Park must immediately leave, Reuters reports. Gezi Park, with its thousands of camped-out demonstrators young and old, has become the symbol of the protests.
The protests erupted on May 31 after a violent police crackdown on a peaceful sit-in by activists objecting to a project replacing Gezi Park with a replica Ottoman-era barracks. The unrest has spread to 78 cities across the country, with protesters championing their objections to what they say is the prime minister's increasingly authoritarian style.
President Abdullah Gul, seen by many as a more moderate voice, said Turkey's government will not tolerate more of the unrest that has disrupted daily life, but authorities would listen to protesters' grievances.
"I am hopeful that we will surmount this through democratic maturity," Gul told reporters. "If they have objections, we need to hear them, enter into a dialogue. It is our duty to lend them an ear."
It was unclear exactly who took part in the meeting, which was scheduled for 4 p.m. local time at Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's office in Turkey's capital, Ankara. Critics in the streets said the 11-person delegation wasn't representative of the protesters — and insisted it wouldn't end the showdown. Only an actor and a singer were confirmed to be among those in the delegation, the Associated Press reports.
Some leaders of civil society groups, including Greenpeace, had previously said they would not participate in the meeting because of an "environment of violence."
The activist group Taksim Solidarity, which includes academics and architects who oppose the redevelopment plan at Gezi Park, said its members hadn't been invited to the meeting with Erdogan and predicted it would yield no results.
"As police violence continues mercilessly ... these meetings will in no way lead to a solution," the group said in a statement.
Gul lashed out at foreign media, as international investors have been concerned about how the disturbances could affect Turkey's fast-growing economy. There has been a double-digit percentage drop in the main stock index since the beginning of the protests.
Traffic returned to Istanbul's Taksim Square early Wednesday after a night of violence, with taxis, trucks and pedestrians returning to the streets. A heavy police presence stood off to the side, near a new barricade erected before dawn to prevent riot police from firing tear gas into the square's still occupied Gezi Park.
Hundreds of protesters remained in the park, clearing up after trying to fend off tear gas, followed by an early morning storm that blew down tents and soaked bedding and blankets. At the park's entrance on Taksim Square, a massive barricade of wrecked cars and construction material stood as rudimentary protection from the police.
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