Hurriyet Daily News published an article by Mustafa Akyol headlined 'Some light at the end of the park.'
"After two weeks of social clashes and outbursts of mutual anger, Turkey seems to have seen some light at the end of the tunnel. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, after many days of condemning the “looters” in the streets and the alleged “dark powers” behind them, finally agreed to do what he should have done in the first days: Meet with some representatives of the protestors in Gezi Park," the author writes.
"There is still some risk for a re-escalation, because of the signs of ongoing rigidity on both sides. Some protestors at Gezi Park say they do not accept a referendum - they rather want an immediate decision to keep the park as it is. But this is a bit of a silly move on their part, I must say, as it looks outright anti-democratic. On the other hand, the government, which calls on the “occupiers” in the park to vacate it right away, may “lose patience,” in Erdoğan’s words, and unleash the police on them once again," the article reads.
"It is true that a public park can’t be occupied forever by people sleeping in tents. But I remind the government that the Occupy Wall Street crowd was allowed to stay in New York’s Zuccotti Park for about two months. If Erdoğan can keep his “patience” for that long, and take more positive steps, many people will probably go home willingly."
"Perhaps these lessons will indeed be taken, at least to some extent, and the Gezi Park crisis will prove to be “Turkey’s growing pains,” as Graham Fuller argued wisely in the New York Times the other day. I just don’t want to lose hope," the author concludes.
