Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan has vowed to reconstruct the historic Taksim military barracks in Istanbul's Gezi Park, a project that sparked country-wide protests in 2013.| Delusions of grandeur. He's behaving more and more like Il Duce... |
The president also said the project might include a corner where German, French or the American history would be showcased to tell the world what they had done in the past, referring to the German parliament's recent approval of the 'Armenian genocide' bill.
Erdoğan also said that a huge opera building would be constructed in Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM).
The Gezi Protests started as a sit-in by a small group of environmental advocates to stop bulldozers from razing the park, one of the few green spaces left in Taksim neighborhood, to build a shopping mall. However, it quickly spread across Turkey, as millions of citizens took to the streets in mass demonstrations that shook Turkey throughout the summer of 2013. It later developed into a revolt against what protesters said was the increasing authoritarianism of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Eight protesters were killed during the unrest, while a police officer also died after chasing protesters during the uprising.