Turkish police on 1 May detained dozens of protesters trying to tear down barricades in different parts of Istanbul after authorities banned May Day rallies in the city’s main Taksim Square, Turkish media reported.
Tens of thousands of police were deployed across Istanbul, blocking even small streets with metal barriers in an attempt to prevent groups of protesters from congregating.
In the Besiktas neighbourhood, police detained 30 left-wing protesters who shouted “Taksim cannot be banned’” an AFP journalist reported from the scene. One protester was dragged along the ground by police and detained by his group. Another 30 people were detained in the Sisli neighbourhood.
Istanbul’s main roads were closed to traffic and public transport, including ferries and metro trains, was halted.
Turkey’s main opposition party CHP and trade unions demanded that the government open the square for workers’ rallies, but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned against any provocation on 30 April.
CHP leader Ozgur Ozel, accompanied by Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and union representatives, gathered in the Sarachane neighbourhood where City Hall is located. He said:
We will keep on fighting until Taksim is free.
Authorities banned rallies in Taksim Square after demonstrations in 2013 against Erdogan’s government. In 2023, Turkey’s highest constitutional court ruled that closing Taksim Square to protests was a violation of rights.
