Turkish police lock down Istanbul to prevent Workers’ Day demonstrations

Turkish police locked down large areas of downtown Istanbul and authorities shut public transport to prevent demonstrations on the International Workers' Day holiday.

Hundreds who defied the bans were arrested and police broke up small-scale protests with water cannon and tear gas.

Demonstrators skirmished with police on side streets, as major throughways leading to Taksim Square, the city’s main public gathering place, were closed off, guarded by thousands of police.

More than 250 people had been arrested as of 4:30 pm, according to Kartal Hukukcular Dernegi, a lawyers' group. Istanbul Police Chief Selami Altinok confirmed 136 detentions.

While May 1st is a public holiday commemorating workers in Turkey, authorities have mostly refused to allow labour unions or other organizations to mark it with mass gatherings in Taksim, the traditional venue for such events.

The government has been especially sensitive to any public demonstrations since 2013, when anti-government protesters occupied the square and nearby Gezi Park for weeks.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan justified the ban on demonstrations by saying permitting a march in Taksim Square would have paralysed traffic in the city of some 15 million.

He accused Western media of double standards in their coverage.

“Media channels who were loud on the Gezi Park events have been silent on Baltimore and Ferguson,” he said in a televised speech on Friday, referring to protests against police violence in American cities.

The May 1st holiday has historically been a tense occasion in Turkey, and 34 people were killed in May Day demonstrations in Taksim Square in 1977.

A new law passed in March gave police enhanced powers against demonstrators, including greater authority to arrest them and use live ammunition against people carrying Molotov cocktails.

Bloomberg