Turkish Police arrests 26 unionists in Istanbul on May 1st

The Turkish police have arrested 26 prominent members of one of the country's largest trade unions in Istanbul for failing to comply with a ban on street demonstrations imposed by COVID-19 on Friday when they began a May Day protest.

The police action took place when members of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DISK) left the offices of the group and started a march towards Taksim Square, about four kilometers away, the nerve center of the city and symbol of the workers struggle.

A live recording by the union shows a prolonged struggle with the police that ended with the arrest of most of the demonstrators, including DISK president Arzu Çerkezoglu.

According to the Bianet newspaper, the police pointed to the ban on protests and the curfew imposed during the May 1 holiday and the weekend to prevent the spread of COVID-19, as the reason for blocking the march. "We are under arrest! There are comrades all over Turkey working today, but this does not interrupt social life. On the other hand, the celebration of May Day does interrupt it. You cannot ban May Day!," Çerkezoglu said in a tweet.

The protesters were heading for Taksim Square, a special symbol for the Turkish left after the 1977 massacre, when, during the May Day celebration, unidentified gunmen shot into the crowd, causing 34 dead and 120 injured, and even more when the military dictatorship banned marches there in 1980.

The current government of the Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) lifted the veto in 2009, declaring May Day an official holiday, but reinstated the ban on demonstrations in that symbolic square in 2013.