Turkey Protesters Reject Erdogan's 'Last Warning' to Evacuate Gezi Park

Turkish protesters said Thursday they would remain in Istanbul's Gezi Park despite a "last warning" by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to evacuate the green patch at the center of deadly anti-government unrest.

"We will stay in Gezi Park with all our demands and sleeping bags," Taksim Solidarity, the core group behind the campaign to save the park, said in a statement, rejecting the government's proposal to hold a referendum on the site's controversial redevelopment.

Earlier on Thursday, Erdogan issued a "last warning" for thousands of protesters to evacuate the park.

"I'm making my last warning: mothers, fathers please withdraw your kids from there," Erdogan said in a live television broadcast. "We cannot wait any longer because Gezi Park does not belong to occupying forces. It belongs to everybody."

The premier urged environmental protesters to withdraw so that police could clear the site of "illegal organizations.”

"Don't sadden us anymore, let us clean Gezi park and return it to its rightful owners... the people of Istanbul."

On Tuesday, police already took back Taksim Square, next to the park, sparking a day of violent clashes between riot police and tens of thousands of angry demonstrators.

A campaign to save Gezi Park's 600 trees from being razed to make way for a replica of Ottoman-era military barracks was met with a tough police response on May 31. The violence sparked a nationwide outpouring of anger against Erdogan, seen as increasingly authoritarian after more than a decade in power.

The premier has faced international condemnation over his handling of the crisis, which has left four people dead and injured nearly 5,000 demonstrators.

But Erdogan defended the police action, saying: "Police use force when needed."

He put the damage from the protests so far at 100 million lira (40 million euros).