Hundreds arrested in Turkey as police clash with May Day protesters in Istanbul

Turkish police charged May Day protesters in Istanbul on Thursday, detaining hundreds of people and dragging some away in buses after they tried to defy a ban on public gatherings and march towards Taksim Square.

Unions and NGOs had called for protests and marches across Istanbul, which has seen a wave of mass demonstrations in recent weeks over the detention of its mayor and President Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival, Ekrem Imamoglu.

On Thursday, protesters attempted to march towards central Istanbul’s Taksim Square, where all protests have been banned for years, under overcast and rainy weather.

Police blocked them in Istanbul’s central Besiktas and Sisli districts and pushed them back, scuffling with some who attempted to break through barricades.

A protester reacts as he is detained by plain-clothed police members, as people attempt to defy a ban and march on Taksim Square to celebrate May Day in Istanbul

Footage from Istanbul showed riot police and protesters charging at each other. Protesters held up signs and chanted slogans as police forcefully hauled detainees to waiting buses.

The Istanbul governor’s office said in a statement that 384 people who demonstrated without authorisation had been detained.

Gatherings in Turkey for International Labour Day are held annually, but police have often intervened in recent years.

Last year, police detained more than 200 people attempting to march to Taksim Square. In 1977, 34 people were killed during May Day demonstrations in the square.

Ozgur Ozel, head of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), to which Imamoglu also belongs, said the ban on demonstrations and marches in Taksim Square showed “the ruling party’s insecurity and lack of confidence”.

“Imprisoning a square with thousands of police shows those who lead the country have no real authority and have turned the state into a police state,” Ozel told reporters.

In Ankara, Erdogan hosted representatives from unions and various professional fields to mark May Day. He said his government had, over the years, lifted some restrictions on labourers and implemented several legal amendments to improve working conditions.

Thousands more rallied in Ankara for largely peaceful marches and demonstrations, while gatherings were held in other cities as well.