President Abdullah Gul downplayed Turkey's mass protests and defended riot police on Thursday, telling a Canadian daily it is "quite natural" for demonstrators to wish for a "more perfect" democracy.
Gul's comments were published in Toronto's Globe and Mail one day after two Canadian Broadcasting Corporation journalists covering the protests in Istanbul's Taksim Square were briefly arrested.
"People out on Wall Street in New York were also chanting for more democracy. The same for the people in London and Italy. The same is true for Istanbul," Gul said in the interview.
"What they are after is a more perfect system, which is quite natural."
Gul noted, however, that Turkey's government was "elected openly and transparently" in a ballot with 85 percent participation, saying if voters are unhappy then they can "vote for another party" in next year's election.
He also praised police for what he described as showing restraint. "None of them have ever resorted to armed weapons, they don't carry sticks, they don't carry weapons and there were no casualties caused by firearms," he said.
"If, when the events had first started in Syria the police forces or the interventions were made in a similar fashion, and if they pursued dialogue to comprehend the requests of the society, then perhaps there wouldn't have been such casualties or the escalated events in that country," he added.
Gul's comments were published in Toronto's Globe and Mail one day after two Canadian Broadcasting Corporation journalists covering the protests in Istanbul's Taksim Square were briefly arrested.
"People out on Wall Street in New York were also chanting for more democracy. The same for the people in London and Italy. The same is true for Istanbul," Gul said in the interview.
"What they are after is a more perfect system, which is quite natural."
Gul noted, however, that Turkey's government was "elected openly and transparently" in a ballot with 85 percent participation, saying if voters are unhappy then they can "vote for another party" in next year's election.
He also praised police for what he described as showing restraint. "None of them have ever resorted to armed weapons, they don't carry sticks, they don't carry weapons and there were no casualties caused by firearms," he said.
"If, when the events had first started in Syria the police forces or the interventions were made in a similar fashion, and if they pursued dialogue to comprehend the requests of the society, then perhaps there wouldn't have been such casualties or the escalated events in that country," he added.
