May Day in Türkiye, an incurable wound

In Türkiyeall 576 people arrested during the celebrations of May Day in Istanbul they were released this morning. This was announced onChd. Bar Association which had deployed its members in the streets of Istanbulmaintaining a constant presence to count and monitor arrests in the metropolis.

In a message published on Xthe association specified that the latest 46 people held in two police stationsincluding the Sindacale leader Basaran Aksuwere released after spending the night in custody and carrying out medical tests.

In Türkiye, 576 people were arrested

In total, the police he arrested 576 people – 575 according to theIstanbul governor’s office – during the Labor Day to prevent them from reaching Taksim Squarefocal point of protest movement of Istanbul, closed to gatherings since 2013 and by a wave of anti-government demonstrations.

May 1st amid tensions in Türkiye

Il April 28 had been arrested beforehand 47 people – fourteen in detention and nine garlics house arrestit also reads. There workers’ day has become, this year too, an ad day very high voltage in Istanbul, a day when “it’s better to stay at home”.

Armored Istanbul

Public transport suspended, barriers e roads closed to traffic, clashes, tear gasat least 370 arreststens of thousands of policemen in riot gear to preside over a slice of the city. A scenario that is not new, but which remains difficult to get used to.

Ten years of restrictions

An array of forces that from now on 10 years it tears apart the daily life of a large part of metropolis on the Bosphorus in deference to prohibitions imposed by the Prefecture. Il May 1st in Istanbul it’s anything but workers’ day.

Taksim Square between blocks and inconveniences

To those who live within the radius of 4 km from Taksim Square life is made practically impossible. Police blocks every few hundred meters, endless waits and queues to go shopping or go home, tourists who pass by with incredulous looks, blocked roads, rude policemen and deaf to the reasons of those who live in the area.

To this must be added theacrid smell of tear gas which penetrates windows, irritates the eyes and throat, even if you are far from the places of the clashes. In addition to the consequences for those who try to preserve their daily lives, there are the protesters.

Workers’ Day amidst social conflict

Left-wing trade unions e communist party they would have liked to celebrate the First of May and they found themselves involved, once again, in one battle with the policefor the symbolic Taksim Square. The idea of ​​celebrating in other areas of metropolis in Istanbul it would have been like a surrender to the government ea Erdogan.

The one that is everywhere in the world World Workers’ Dayin Türkiye it’s the day of social clashof the showdown between established power and those who oppose it, a day whose tension inevitably sinks into historical events of the country and focuses on protesting against the president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The same damage script

For days the center of Istanbul was armored by tens of thousands of police, thousands of barriers, armored e fire hydrants. Scenes that are repeated on an annual basis to remind us that in Türkiye there is not an anniversary to celebrate, but rather a clash that the authorities want to win at any cost.

The tragedy of 1977

To understand the origins of this tension it must be remembered that this date weighs and will always weigh in Türkiye tragedy of 1977. An event that the protesters are determined to commemorate, a bloodbath with still too many dark sides.

Bloody May

Yet May Day was designated as a day of celebration in Türkiye in 1935 at the behest of Mustafa Kemal Ataturkstill venerated as the father of the Republic. The Festival of spring and flowers it remained a day of celebration until 1976when the workers’ organizations they organized a procession that invaded the center and Taksim Square.

The history of Turkish May Day changed forever in 1977: from there Festival of spring and flowers became the bloody mayi.e. the Bloody May. That year, with the country in serious economic crisisl’Union of Revolutionary Trade Unions (DISK) organized a large demonstration in Taksim Square where a crowd of half a million people.

During the speech of Secretary of DISK shots of firearm broke the silence of the listening crowd who began to run in panic, unleashing a ruckus at the end of which they counted 34 dead e hundreds injured.

Investigations and misdirections

The investigations of police they led to 98 arrestsall indicted and subsequently all acquitted. The judges invited the authorities to reopen the case, but after coup d’état of 12 September 1980 the investigations were misdirected and slowed down, and any demonstration was banned 8 years and the workers’ day it was deleted from the anniversaries.

The iconic hotel

Only one certainty remains: i snipers they were stationed on the terrace of theHotel Intercontinentalwhose upper floors were closed to staff and occupied by foreigners who spoke in English. After many years that hotel, which is now called Marmaraoverwhelms Taksim Square and remember that bloody day.

Like every year, this year too, the conflict between government and dissidents, established power e opponents, law enforcement agencies e protesters. A conflict between two well-defined parts of the Turkish company who will never meet, making it impossible to define one party il May 1st in Türkiye.