BBC News - Istanbul Gezi Park plan to proceed - Turkish PM Erdogan 6 June 2013 Last updated at 18:09 Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said plans to redevelop a park in Istanbul will go ahead despite mass protests rocking the country. Describing some of the demonstrators as "extremists," he said seven foreigners had been arrested over the unrest. Mr Erdogan made the remarks in Tunis. He is to return to Turkey from a North African tour later on Thursday. A large protest group has called for further demonstrations in response to the comments, correspondents say. The demonstrators had hoped for a sign of compromise but Mr Erdogan's comments are likely to fan the flames of discontent, says the BBC's Mark Lowen in Istanbul. The economic response was swift, with the stock market dropping nearly 5% after the prime minister's announcement. The original sit-in at Gezi Park spiralled into nationwide unrest after police cracked down on activists defending the green space near Istanbul's Taksim Square from developers. For days, demonstrators in Istanbul, Ankara and other cities have been calling for the three-term prime minister to quit. They accuse his government of becoming increasingly authoritarian and trying to impose conservative Islamic values on a secular state. Four people including a police officer are reported to have died, thousands have been injured and hundreds arrested in the unrest. How the crisis spiralled - in 90 seconds At the scene Inside Gezi Park, Recep Tayyip Erdogan's comments barely generated a reaction. This afternoon many lazed in their tents, picked up litter, or had picnics in the sun. Vendors at makeshift stands sold kebabs and slices of watermelon. Protesters believe that the prime minister has not listened to them, nor has he given any ground. They want him to abandon plans to develop the park and next-door Taksim Square. "As long as he continues like this, we will continue," says Levent Yilmaz, a craftsman. At least 1,000 people come here every evening. If they want to get rid of us, they will have to use a lot of tear gas. We're not looking for a war - we're here to protect nature and our rights. Zeynep Seviyilmaz, an actress, says she and her peers are "the youth of this nation." "Our generation is being challenged - just as our parents were," she says. Implicated in terrorism Speaking in Tunis, Mr Erdogan acknowledged that police had used "excessive force" against activists at the original sit-in. But he said that a small group of extremists was now manipulating what had started as an environmental protest. "Among the protesters, there are extremists, some of them implicated in terrorism," he told reporters. Mr Erdogan also defended the urban development plan for Gezi Park. "The project respects [Turkey's] history, culture and environment," he said. What we are doing is to protect the rights of the majority and to preserve the beauty of Istanbul. Tunisian riot police surrounded the Turkish embassy in Tunis during Mr Erdogan's visit, after local left-wing groups called for protests to show solidarity with the demonstrators in Turkey, the AP news agency reports. Meanwhile several of Turkey's largest unions called for calm on Thursday. "Violence and fighting don't solve anything, and they make it impossible to solve problems," the unions said in a joint statement. In Istanbul, thousands of striking workers joined the demonstrations on Wednesday. In the coastal city of Izmir, police have released about 30 people detained earlier for posting "misinformation" on Twitter, the state-run Anatolia news agency reports. Mr Erdogan has called the micro-blogging site a "menace" used to spread "lies." Sit-in Earlier this week, Deputy PM Bulent Arinc apologised for police violence in the original protest, which took place a week ago. Protest representatives who met Mr Arinc on Wednesday presented a list of demands, which included the dismissal of police chiefs, a ban on the use of tear gas, the release of detained protesters, the sacking of Istanbul's governor, and the scrapping of the plans for the redevelopment of Gezi Park. Opponents of the plan say the park is of the few green areas left in central Istanbul - many had been camping out there for several days in protest. But Mr Erdogan has repeatedly said the project would go ahead, and that the historic Ottoman-era military barracks would be rebuilt on the site as planned. His ruling Justice and Development Party has governed Turkey since 2002, winning a series of election victories.