May Day rally to be held in Istanbul's Bakirkoy

By Adem Demir

ISTANBUL

Avoiding a possible confrontation with the government, Turkey’s major unions announced on Tuesday that they would celebrate May Day – International Workers’ Day – in Istanbul's Bakirkoy district on the European side.

According to a joint press statement from the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions (DISK), Turkish Medical Association (TTB), and the Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (KESK), the rally will be held in Bakirkoy instead of Istanbul’s symbolically important Taksim Square due to security concerns and a ban.

Taksim Square was closed to Labor Day demonstrations from 1977 to 2010, as 37 people died on May 1, 1977 when unidentified gunmen fired on the crowd.

In 2010, tens of thousands of people gathered peacefully in the square for the first time in more than 30 years, but bans of May Day gatherings there have re-emerged since 2012.

By Adem Demir

ISTANBUL

Taksim Square was closed to Labor Day demonstrations from 1977 to 2010, as 37 people died on May 1, 1977 when unidentified gunmen fired on the crowd.

In 2010, tens of thousands of people gathered peacefully in the square for the first time in more than 30 years, but bans of May Day gatherings there have re-emerged since 2012.