Turkey bans May Day rallies

Turkey bans May Day rallies, uses tear gas, water cannon on demonstrators

Turkish security forces barricaded the commercial centre of Istanbul in an attempt to stop May Day celebrations from taking place in the city’s iconic Taksim Square.

According to CNN, police fired plastic pellets and used tear gas and water cannon in an attempt to disperse May Day demonstrators who tried to defy the ban and reach the city centre.

Protesters responded by throwing stones and bottles and shooting fireworks at riot police.

Similar clashes erupted in the Turkish capital Ankara and the port city of Izmir.

Turkish authorities went to great lengths to prevent people from gathering in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city. Citing security threats by extremist groups, the government shut Istanbul’s subway system, stopped many commercial ferry services between the European and Asian halves of the city, and blocked vehicular traffic on some of Istanbul’s busiest roads.

“Intelligence units have received information that illegal terrorist organizations and their extensions are going to resort to violence against security forces. This situation would create circumstances that would not only disrupt public order and security but also seriously threaten the rights and freedoms of our citizens,” the Istanbul governor’s office announced in a written statement released on Wednesday night.

The governor’s office also justified the ban, arguing that May Day rallies would hurt Istanbul’s image as a tourist destination.

“Taksim Square and the surrounding area are not suitable for high attendance gatherings and demonstrations,” the governor’s office wrote.

The sprawling pedestrian area was all but deserted throughout the day on Thursday, with the exception of security forces, a handful of journalists, and wandering flocks of pigeons.

For decades, May Day, or International Workers Day, has been a day of tension between leftist Turkish labor unions and security forces. Taksim Square holds particular importance to leftist parties, because dozens of people were killed there in a May 1, 1977 rally in which gunfire triggered a deadly stampede.