Reuters
Thu, May 1, 2025
May Day in Istanbul
May Day in Istanbul
May Day in Istanbul
ISTANBUL (Reuters) -Turkish police charged May Day protesters in Istanbul on Thursday, detaining hundreds of people and dragging some away in buses after they tried to defy a ban on public gatherings and march towards Taksim Square.
Unions and NGOs had called for protests and marches across Istanbul, which has seen a wave of mass demonstrations in recent weeks over the detention of its mayor and President Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival, Ekrem Imamoglu.
On Thursday, protesters attempted to march towards the city centre's Taksim Square, where all protests have been banned for years, in overcast and rainy weather.
Police blocked them in the central Besiktas and Sisli districts and pushed them back, scuffling with some who attempted to break through barricades.
Footage showed riot police and protesters charging at each other. Protesters held up signs and chanted slogans as police forcefully hauled detainees away to waiting buses.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said police had detained 409 people in total, including 407 in Istanbul. He said a combined 286,584 people had participated in the protests, which were held in 78 provinces.
Gatherings are held every year in Turkey for International Labour Day, but police have often intervened in recent years.
Last year, police detained more than 200 people attempting to march to Taksim Square. In 1977, 34 people were killed during May Day demonstrations in the square.
Ozgur Ozel, head of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), to which Imamoglu also belongs, said the ban on demonstrations and marches in Taksim Square showed "the ruling party's insecurity and lack of confidence".
"Imprisoning a square with thousands of police shows those who lead the country have no real authority and have turned the state into a police state," Ozel told reporters.
In Ankara, Erdogan hosted representatives from unions and various professional fields to mark May Day. He said his government had, over the years, lifted some restrictions on labourers and implemented several legal amendments to improve working conditions.
Thousands more rallied in Ankara for largely peaceful marches and demonstrations, while gatherings were held in other cities as well.
(Reporting by Mehmet Emin Caliskan and Murad Sezer; Writing by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Hugh Lawson)
Hundreds arrested in crackdown on May Day protests in Istanbul
Megan Fisher - BBC News and Orla Guerin - Senior International correspondent
Thu, May 1, 2025
[Reuters]
Hundreds of people have been arrested in Istanbul, with 50,000 police officers deployed to the city as authorities attempt to crack down on May Day protests.
Public transport was shut down to stop people reaching Taksim Square, where demonstrations have been banned since 2013.
Footage from the Turkish capital showed clashes between riot police and protesters with demonstrators chanting as police forcefully move detainees onto buses.
The city saw huge protests in March after the arrest of the opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu - the main rival to Turkey's President Erdogan.
On 1 May each year, marches led by workers and unions are held as part of International Labour Day celebrations in many countries.
Taksim Square – the heart of Istanbul – was under a tight lock down, with police and metal barriers along all roads leading to the area.
Authorities were determined, perhaps this year more than ever, to ensure there were no major protests on the square, and they had enough riot police to ensure that.
The square, normally busy with bustling crowds, looked lifeless, with restaurants and shops sealed shut.
The only way past the lines of police was with permission. Several labour unions were allowed briefly onto Taksim, carrying red banners and flowers.
Standing in front of the Republic Monument, which commemorates the founding of the modern Turkey in 1923, one speaker complained about the restrictions they faced. Trucks with water canon parked a short distance away.
On roads leading to the square, groups of tourists passed by on foot from time to time, dragging suitcases, unsure of where they could go and unable to reach taxis.
The square was sealed off for several days before 1 May, according to AFP news agency.
A student named Murat said streets had been "blocked... as if it's a state of emergency", he told AFP.
"We weren't allowed into the squares... We were taken from the streets in small groups under torture. It's not a situation we're facing for the first time. It probably won't be the last."
On Wednesday, 100 people were detained for allegedly planning to protest in the square.
The city's authorities said on Thursday that 382 people had been arrested for "non-authorised demonstrations".
Rights group Amnesty International has urged Turkey to lift the ban on demonstrations in Taksim.
The restrictions "are based on entirely spurious security and public order grounds", said Dinushika Dissanayake, an Amnesty's specialist on Europe.
In a statement, the group called on officials to respect the right to protest and "not use force against peaceful protesters".
Ekrem Imamoglu's arrest in March triggered mass protests on the streets of Istanbul as hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators came out in support of Istanbul's mayor, who is being held in jail on corruption charges he denies.
He has said his arrest is political, but the has government denied this and insists the Turkish courts are fully independent.
Mayor since 2019, Imamoglu is widely viewed as the only politician capable of challenging Erdogan in the 2028 election. Imamoglu was confirmed as the opposition party's candidate while he was in custody.
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