On International Workers’ Day, demonstrations were held in the capitals of several countries demanding better working conditions.
As in other parts of the world, thousands of people mobilized in Türkiye for him Labor Day. Police fired tear gas and rubber bulletsand stopped more than 200 people this Wednesday after the authorities banned the May 1 demonstration in the emblematic Taksim Square.
The government of Türkiye deployed this Wednesday some 42,000 police officers to try to block access to the historical istanbul square to prevent the mobilization of thousands of people that traditionally takes place in the place during this date.
Police repressed with tear gas and plastic bullets at the protesters in the Sarachane neighborhoodnear the municipality, to prevent the crowd from jumping the security barriers, AFP journalists reported.
The accesses to the Taskim Square were blocked with metal barriers, since Demonstrations have been prohibited since 2013. in this place that concentrated the protests that year against the President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. From the government, they assure that it is a security measure that seeks to avoid incidents similar to what happened in 1977, when unidentified armed men opened fire during a celebration for Labor Day in the place, which left 34 dead.
“210 people were arrested in Istanbul after disobeying our warnings and trying to go to Taksim Square and attack our police officers,” reported the Interior Minister Ali Yerlikayaon the social network X.
In 2023, the constitutional Court determined that the ban on protests in Taksim Square constitutes a violation of citizens’ rights. “Taksim is an important symbol for us, which represents May 1 and the workers,” said Arzu Cerkezoglu, general secretary of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DISK).
Since the shores of the Bosphorus until the historic Sultanhamet Peninsula and Topkapi Palacethe metal barriers put up by the security operation blocked the passage and public transport, including ferries and the subway, were interrupted.
He Minister of the Interior denounced on Monday the existence of “terrorist organizations that want to make May 1 a field of action and propaganda”. Turkey’s main opposition party, the social democratic CHP, and unions pressured the government to allow the march in the square, but Erdogan warned on Tuesday against any provocation.
Source: Ambito
