Mass arrests took place outside Taksim Square on Holy Wednesday (May 1, 2024) during incidents in the context of a large May Day labor demonstration in Istanbul.
Footage broadcast by CNN Türk captured the police operation and clashes between police and protesters. Security forces, deployed in large numbers, prevented the protesters from moving towards Taksim in Istanbul.
According to Interior Minister Ali Gerlikaya, 210 arrests were made.
Authorities banned demonstrations in the square and cordoned off much of the city center, citing security concerns.
Amnesty International described the authorities’ argument as “flawed” and called for the ban to be lifted, citing a recent decision of the Constitutional Court.
Turkish police scuffled with opposition protesters at a banned May Day parade in Istanbul. Workers and labor union members gathered to protest against soaring inflation and economic hardship pic.twitter.com/Ti8x3TC6xu
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 1, 2024
In late 2023, the Constitutional Court ruled that the ban on demonstrations in Taksim violated the right to peaceful assembly.
The leader of the opposition Ezgur Ezel called the ban a shame, reminding that the decisions of the SD are binding.
Taksim Square, in the heart of Istanbul, has huge symbolic importance for unions and the opposition, mainly because of the May Day massacre of 1977, when snipers opened fire on half a million people in the square, killing dozens.
Taksim has also been the focus of anti-government protests for Gezi Park since 2013, which have progressively taken on huge, national dimensions. The then prime minister and current president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, crushed them with an iron fist; anti-government gatherings in the square have since been banned.
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