Clashes with police during protests in Ankara. Photo: Wikipedia.

WSJ – ISTANBUL—Tens of thousands of antigovernment protesters on Saturday defied Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s call to end illegal demonstrations as the governing party ruled out an early election to quell the unrest.

As evening set in on Taksim Square, the epicenter of nationwide protests which erupted across Turkey more than one week ago, large crowds gathered to reiterate their anger at the government. Nearby, in the Prime Minister’s office at Dolmabahce Palace on the Bosporus shore, the executive committee of the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, said after a meeting that parliamentary elections would take place in 2015 as scheduled.

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