Police blocked a commemoration event yesterday at Kazancı Yokuşu street in Beyoğlu, İstanbul, resulting in the detention of 46 individuals.
Unions and leftist groups organized an event to commemorate the losses in the 1977 May Day. During the celebrations, gunfire from surrounding buildings and different points in the area, where hundreds of thousands of people gathered, leading to a stampede as the crowd headed toward Kazancı Yokuşu. Forty-one people lost their lives ithat day, which went down in history as "Bloody May 1."
The voices of those who lost their loved ones: 1 May '77 and impunity
Police closed off Taksim Square and surrounding areas with barriers before the scheduled event and surrounded the group near Gezi Park.
Metro and funicular services in Taksim were temporarily stopped during the events.
Protesters raised carnations and chanted "Taksim Square is the May 1 area." Taksim has been banned for May Day celebrations since 2012.
Süleyman Keskin, the chairperson of the Union of Electricity, Gas, Water and Dam Workers (DİSK/Enerji-Sen), made a speech under police blockade.
'Like every year, we wanted to organize an event in Taksim to commemorate our comrades we lost in 1977. However, they say the commemoration we will hold today is banned by a decision of the district governorate. They have tried to take away our most democratic right in this country dozens of times. They prosecuted us all repeatedly.
"The court results are very clear: Neither the district governor nor the governor has the authority to ban these. We were prosecuted dozens of times for wanting to march to Taksim, and we were acquitted in all of them. The law is very clear: Workers and laborers can make statements and commemorations in a square identified with them. This is our most democratic and legitimate right. We will not take a step back from these demands."
The group began a sit-in protest following the speech. Police detained 46 protesters by beating them, according to a report by Sendika.org.
Authorities released 43 of the detainees after procedures at the police department. Three people spent the night in custody due to outstanding warrants in other cases. (VC/VK)
