ISTANBUL – Turkish police on May 1 fired tear gas and arrested dozens of people holding May Day demonstrations in Istanbul, AFP journalists said.
Two groups were specially singled out in the city’s European side after signalling their intention to march to Taksim square – the scene of several anti-government protests in the past – which was sealed off overnight by police.
Turkish media, including the opposition website Bir Gun, counted at least 57 arrests.
May 1, which celebrates workers and the working classes, sees a major police deployment in Turkey every year, with a large area in the heart of Istanbul around Taksim Square sealed off.
In 2025, protests moved to the Kadikoy area of the city and more than 400 people were arrested.
On May 1, a large deployment of police, many in riot gear, and metal barricades were seen choking access to central neighbourhoods of Istanbul.
In the Mecidiyekoy district, police were seen by AFP using tear gas on the crowd, which included members of a Marxist party, the HKP, who tried to push through while chanting “USA murderer, (Turkey’s ruling party) AKP accomplice”.
Police encircling the Besiktas neighbourhood stepped in – sometimes violently – whenever a chant was taken up by the demonstrators. AFP saw several protesters thrown to the ground.
Unions and civil society associations had called for the May 1 demonstrations under the slogan “Bread. Peace. Freedom”.
Earlier this week, Turkish authorities issued arrest and search warrants against 62 people, of whom they deemed 46 – including journalists, trade unionists and opposition figures – were “likely to carry out attacks”. AFP
