Police use tear gas and arrest hundreds during Labor Day events in Istanbul

Protest in Istanbul on Labor Day. YASIN AKGUL / AFP Thousands of people participated this Friday (1st) in May Day demonstrations in Turkey, despite a strong police presence in Ankara, the capital, and in Istanbul, where at least 370 were detained. According to the ÇHD lawyers’ association, in the early afternoon, the number of detainees reached 370 in Istanbul. Police fired tear gas from riot vehicles into the crowd, AFP journalists found. The objective was to prevent protesters from reaching the emblematic Taksim Square, closed to gatherings since the wave of anti-government protests in 2013. A union leader, Basaran Aksu, was detained after denouncing the blockade. “You cannot close a square to workers in Turkey. Everyone uses Taksim for official ceremonies, for celebrations. Only the workers, the workers, the poor can close the square”, he stated. Trending videos on g1 In images released by the opposition channel Halk TV, the president of the Turkish Workers’ Party, Erkan Bas, can be seen under a hail of pepper gas. “Power already speaks 365 days a year, so let workers talk about the difficulties they experience at least one day a year”, he criticized. Unions and associations called for demonstrations under the slogan “Bread, peace, freedom”. In Istanbul, an authorized demonstration on the Asian bank of the Bosphorus, called by trade union confederations, peacefully brought together thousands of people, according to an AFP journalist. Protesters hold a banner that says “Viva 1º de Maio” and chant slogans during a Labor Day rally. OZAN KOSE/AFP Police detain a protester as people try to defy a ban and march to Taksim Square to celebrate Labor Day, in Istanbul, Turkey, May 1, 2026. REUTERS/Kemal Aslan Protesters chant slogans during a Labor Day rally, marking International Workers’ Day, in Istanbul’s Kadikoy district on May 1 2026. OZAN KOSE / AFP

Source link