Police suppress Istanbul protests
ISTANBUL — Riot police officers used tear gas and water cannons to disperse hundreds of protesters who took to the streets of Istanbul on Friday, defying a government ban on May Day celebrations in Taksim Square.
At least 250 people were detained, according to the Istanbul Bar Association.
Authorities had tried to lock down the city by erecting roadblocks and suspending service on the main public transportation lines. About 10,000 police were deployed to stop labor unions and activists from gathering in the square, where violence has marred May Day celebrations in the past. In the Besiktas district, activists shouted resistance slogans and May Day chants. Many protesters were stopped and searched by police, and several people carrying gas masks were arrested in the Sisli district.
“Turkey has a highly oppressive government with dictatorial tendencies,” said Kani Beko, president of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey, which represents more than 320,000 workers in the country. “They would do anything to prevent anyone calling for better democracy in this country,” he said.
Cengiz Umut, a trade union confederation member, said of the square: “Taksim is ours. It is a symbol of May Day. Gathering there is our right. Look at all this police around you,” he added. “This is pure fascism.”
Taksim Square was closed to May Day celebrations by the military government in 1980 after an episode in 1977, when gunmen opened fire on the rally, killing dozens of protesters. The government reopened the square for May Day in 2010, but then closed it again.
The square has been under tight police control since 2013, when it became the center of sweeping antigovernment protests that roiled the country, posing one of the greatest challenges to the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the former prime minister who is now president.
The protests Friday came at a time of deep polarization in Turkey, with mounting opposition to what many see as the authoritarian style of Mr. Erdogan and his government. Authorities have responded by increasingly quashing dissent. A bill passed in March expanded police powers and stiffened penalties for unauthorized demonstrations.
Left-wing groups, governments and trade unions were staging rallies around the world Friday to mark International Workers Day. Most events were peaceful protests for workers’ rights and world peace. But May 1 regularly sees clashes between police and militant groups in some cities.
International Workers Day originated in the United States. U.S. unions first called for introduction of an eight-hour working day with a general strike declared to press the demand, starting May 1, 1886. The idea spread to other countries, although the U.S. celebrates Labor Day on the first Monday in September.