* Photos: Vedat Örüç
Click to read the article in Turkish (1) (2) (3) / Kurdish (1) (2) (3)
A group of people from the Youth Committee who wanted to protest the ban on May Day celebrations in İstanbul's Taksim amid the COVID-19 'full lockdown' have been taken into custody by the police.
Marching from Ömer Hayyam in Beyoğlu, the group was carrying a banner that read, "Struggle is everywhere, power to those who cannot go around."
On their way to İstiklal Avenue, they also chanted the slogans, "Taksim cannot be closed to people", "Long live our struggle for the 1st of May", "Long live May Day" and "Bijî 1 Gulan" (Long live the 1st of May in Kurdish).
Getting over the barricades in the side streets leading to Galatasaray Square on İstiklal Avenue, the group was prevented by the police.
10 people have been taken into custody.
While the police did not allow the ones who wanted to take to Taksim, the members of the Workers' Representatives and Labor Force, marching with a banner of "Taksim is the May Day square", have been detained by police officers in Tarlabaşı near Taksim Square.
The following people have been taken into custody in Ömer Hayyam neighborhood in Tarlabaşı town of Beyoğlu: Devrim Çapar, Emin Beyaz, Hasan Doğan, Mert Batur, Kemal Yılmaz, Yunus Emre Karaca, İlknur Alagöz, Candeniz Aksu, Ezgi Gözoğlu, İbrahim Keskin.
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Members of the Warehouse Harbor Shipyard and Maritime Workers Union (DGD-Sen) and Umut-Sen met in Dolmabahçe, Beşiktaş. The police intervened against them as well, detaining 10 people: Gizem Balcı, Leyla Bilgen, Çayan Akbıyık, Ulaş Hacımuratoğlu, Faik Kündeş, Rojhat Tunç, Tahir Çetin, Erhan Akdoğan, Barış Altun, Dilan İnce.
In Harbiye, the police intervened against the members of the People's Houses, United Struggle Forces and United Struggle Assemblies, who wanted to march to Taksim for the May Day. 30 people have been taken into custody during the police intervention.
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In Osmanbey, a group of university students who set out for Taksim, carrying a banner that read, "We will win, from the campus to the street", were also prevented by the police. All students have been detained.
The police also intervened against the members of the Revolutionary Anarchist Federation members, who marched from the Kazancı Slope to Taksim, opening a banner that read, "The 1st of May is the fight". Several people have been battered and detained by the police.
In Mecidiyeköy, the members of the Socialist Solidarity Platform (SODAP) came together and started to march to Taksim. Over 10 SODAP members have also been taken into custody by the police.
ÇHD: 204 people detained
In a statement released by the Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD) İstanbul Branch at around 11 a.m. on May 1, it was announced that nearly 80 people were taken into custody. While some of the detained were in district police stations, some others were reportedly in hospitals for the medical check. The statement has noted that some of the detained would be taken to the İstanbul Security Directorate on Vatan Avenue in Fatih.
In another statement later in the day, the ÇHD said that the number of the detained was nearly 204. Noting that two people were released from the Karaköy Police Department and one journalist detained in Mecidiyeköy was released with an administrative fine, the ÇHD announced that the the other detained persons were taken to Vatan following the medical check.
'Symbolic' commemoration in Taksim
* Photo: DİSK On the other side, the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK), Confederation of Public Employees Trade Unions (KESK), Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) and Turkish Medical Association (TTB) marched to Taksim Square in İstanbul's Beyoğlu to mark the May Day and commemorate the ones who lost their lives in previous May Day celebrations in a symbolic commemoration. Meeting in Gümüşsuyu at around 12 a.m. today, members of the DİSK, KESK, TMMOB and TTB marched to Taksim Square, carrying a banner that read, "Hope side by side." DİSK Chair Arzu Çerkezoğlu raised concerns that "this year, the 1st of May is celebrated amid bans due to the pandemic". She said, "Those who cannot tolerate the meeting of laborers for a day have surrounded the May Day with barricades." She underlined that "those barricades were a symbol of the political power holders' preference." The representatives from the KESK, TMMOB and TTB also addressed their audience on the occasion of May Day. KESK representative said, "Since the preparations for the 1st of May started, a state of siege has been declared. Today, our friends who wanted to take to the squares, who wanted to take to Taksim Square in a peaceful manner, were attacked by the police. We condemn these attacks." While the TMMOB representative raised concerns about the poverty, unemployment and losses of jobs prevailing in the country, especially amid the pandemic, the TTB representative said, "We are losing health workers everyday. We want the COVID-19 to be recognized as an occupational disease. We are once crying our demands out loud: Ensure vaccination for everyone, remove patents of vaccines, enforce the İstanbul Convention effectively." The association also sent its greetings to the women resisting for nature in İkizdere in the Black Sea region of Turkey. |
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Police intervention in Ankara as well
* Photo: DAF In Ankara, the Revolutionary Anarchist Federation (DAF) members were also detained while marching to Güvenpark with the banner "The 1st of May is the fight". The police had intervened against the group on the grounds of the coronavirus measures. They battered and detained 5 people; meanwhile trying to hinder recording of videos and images, referring to a recent circular issued by the Directorate General of Security. |
(VÖ/RT/AS/SD)
