Turkey PM urges protesters to leave park

ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkey's prime minister Friday urged a small delegation of protesters to persuade hundreds of others occupying an Istanbul park to withdraw.

Activists leading a sit-in were considering a promise by Recep Tayyip Erdogan to let the courts and a potential referendum decide the fate of the much-despised Gezi Park redevelopment project. The pledge was made during last-ditch negotiations after Erdogan had issued a "final warning" to protesters.

The two-week standoff has damaged Erdogan's international reputation and led to repeated interventions by riot police. After initially inflaming tensions by dubbing the protesters "terrorists," the prime minister has moderated his stance in closed-door talks in the past few days.

But Erdogan told party members Friday that the protesters in the park had "stayed long enough."

" 'Go and speak to them . . . Don't let us be forced into reverting to different measures,' " Erdogan said he had told the protesters' representatives.

Earlier, Erdogan's ruling party announced that the government would suspend its plan to cut down trees in Gezi Park and install a replica Ottoman barracks until the courts could rule on its legality. And even if the courts sided with the government, a city referendum would be held to determine the plan's fate, officials said. -- AP