Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Wednesday in Istanbul, Turkey, police he arrested 210 people during the demonstrations on the occasion of Labor Day on May 1st. The authorities had banned demonstrations in Taksim Square, the most famous square in the city and one of the symbolic places of the establishment of the Turkish republic in 1923, but many still tried to get past the barricades and were arrested. According to reported and AFPmore than 40 thousand police had been deployed for the day, pushing people back with tear gas and rubber bullets.
Taksim Square had been the main gathering place for May 1 celebrations until 1977, when at least 34 people were killed during demonstrations. The authorities had only allowed its use again between 2010 and 2013. Turkey’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), and the trade unions had asked the government to open the square for the day but the minister of Interior Ali Yerlikaya had said that the square would no longer be open to events of this type to prevent “terrorist organizations” from using it for propaganda. In 2023 the Turkish Constitutional Court he had established that the closure of Taksim Square for protests was a violation of citizens’ right to assemble.