Turkish president warns of country's image damage

Turkish President Abdullah Gul on Tuesday warned that the image of Turkey, which has been promoted with efforts in 10 years, might be damaged in a week, calling on protesters to end their demonstrations. "It was very important to open a dialogue. You have seen that some meetings took place and (the protesters) were listened to. The planned project (in Gezi Park) is suspended," Gul said in the capital Ankara, referring to previous meetings held between government officials and the protesters, who were trying to preserve Gezi Park in Istanbul. "The demonstrations in the streets must certainly come to an end and some hesitations started to emerge," said Gul. Also, he called on the European Parliament to judge Turkey fairly in response to the legislature's resolution last week condemning Ankara's excessive use of force against protesters of the two-week nationwide movement. The protests began as a peaceful sit-in against a plan to redevelop Gezi Park in Taksim Square of Istanbul, but snowballed into large-scale anti-government movement after police fierce crackdown. Clashes between police and protesters across Turkey have killed at least five people, including a policeman, and injured some 5, 000.