Thousands of May Day protesters in Istanbul clashed violently with police after authorities refused to allow them to march in the direction of the city’s iconic Taksim Square, which has been sealed off and heavily guarded since a day before May 1 to prevent any gatherings.
Speaking to the press, the leader of Turkey’s main opposition party, Özgür Özel, criticised the Taksim ban, recalling that a 2023 Constitutional Court ruling ruled that the closure of the iconic square to protests is a violation of rights enshrined in the constitution.
Faced with the ban on gathering in Taksim, the main trade unions and left-wing organisations – including the Confederation of Trade Unions of Turkey (TÜRK-İŞ) and the Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions (DİSK) – gathered near the Valens aqueduct (Bozdoğan) in the Saraçhane neighbourhood, where the city hall is located.
There, the atmosphere became tense with chanting and insults until it exploded when protesters tried to march towards Taksim despite the ban in force, attempting to break through the police barrier. It was then that the most violent moments occurred, with stones and other objects being thrown and even stick charges against the dozens of riot police deployed, who responded by throwing pepper spray and rubber balls.
The clashes eventually resulted in several police officers being injured and dozens arrested, and forced the two major unions organising the protest in Istanbul to abandon the march and announce the dissolution of the protest, which was moved to Akasaray Square. There were also clashes elsewhere in Beşiktaş with small groups of protesters attempting to gain access to Taksim, who were quickly detained by police.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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