137 demonstrators detained in Istanbul in May Day rallies

Turkish police said they detained 137 people in Istanbul on Wednesday for trying to hold illegal demonstrations in various parts of the city to celebrate May Day.

Police had cordoned off Istanbul’s central Taksim square, but small groups of demonstrators converged there anyway.

“Squares belong to the people, they cannot be closed off. Long live May 1!” protesters shouted as police hauled them away, covering their mouths.

Protests for May Day, the international workers’ holiday, are an annual occurrence in Turkey. Protests have often centred on Taksim Square where 34 people were killed during demonstrations on May 1, 1977.

Turkish police regularly prevent the staging of protests in central Istanbul and elsewhere. Ankara tightened restrictions after the imposition of emergency rule following an attempted coup in 2016. 

The state of emergency was lifted last July.

Earlier on Wednesday, police allowed a ceremony by a few union leaders to go ahead in Taksim Square, and another group laid carnations on a street nearby.

Authorities only allowed mass celebrations in the Bakirkoy district, located some distance from the city centre.

By 1600 GMT, Istanbul police said they had detained 137 demonstrators in various parts of Istanbul, including the central districts of Besiktas, Sisli and Beyoglu.

Reuters