Tens of thousands march in Turkey on May Day

DOZENS of trade unions, youth groups, and resistance movements in Turkey marched on Istanbul’s iconic Taksim Square on May Day, in open defiance of both a government ban, and the decision by the country’s largest labour confederations to gather in Kadiköy Square instead.

More than 25 organisations – including independent unions, leftist political parties and students – said Taksim remains the only legitimate site for Labour Day in Turkey, where the square has become a potent symbol of workers’ struggles since the 1977 massacre in which 34 people were killed.

The 2025 Taksim May Day Coordination Committee accused the government of using security and administrative bans to criminalise resistance. But the committee also directed criticism at the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DSK), the Public Workers Unions Confederation (KESK), and opposition parties for what it called ‘an organised withdrawal’ from the square.

‘We are facing May Day in a time when workers and labourers resist stitch by stitch, and youth reject a life of servitude,’ the committee said in a statement on Wednesday.

‘Taksim calls us – to build a life of freedom and fraternity under the tree of life.’

The call was joined by the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) and the Limter-fl union of shipyard workers, among others.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party’s youth wing had said it would march to Taksim in what it called a stand for dignity and memory. ‘Our insistence on a socialist life will liberate Taksim,’ it said in a statement.

Taksim Square has been under effective government lockdown since the 2013 Gezi Park protests. Since then, access to the square has been routinely denied for political and union gatherings, citing security concerns.

The Constitutional Court recently ruled that banning May Day demonstrations in Taksim violates the right to peaceful assembly – a ruling many now demand the state implement.

Despite this, Turkey’s interior minister had warned against unauthorised gatherings and said law enforcement will take ‘necessary precautions’. In past years, riot police have blockaded streets and detained marchers attempting to reach Taksim.

The Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (D‹SK), the Confederation of Public Employees’ Trade Unions (KESK), the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB), and the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) announced they would mark May Day in Kadiköy square, across the Bosphorus on the Asian side of the city.

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Workers’ Party of Turkey (TP) also aligned with that call.

CHP leader Özgür Özel, who previously pledged to fight for access to Taksim, defended the change of plans saying: ‘If unions say Kadiköy, then we say Kadiköy.’ Critics have circulated past footage of Özel promising: ‘If they don’t open Taksim, we will.’

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced on Wednesday that police had detained 92 people across the capital on Tuesday in a preemptive operation ahead of May Day demonstrations.

The operation was conducted by the counter-terrorism unit of the Istanbul Police Department under the orders of the prosecutor’s office.

The office said the operations targeted individuals suspected of planning to provoke crowds and organise unauthorised demonstrations involving potential violence against police.

Authorities said 84 of those detained were affiliated with banned leftist groups, including the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C), the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP), the Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist (TKP-ML) and the Maoist Communist Party (MKP).

The Mezopotamya news agency reported that some detainees were subjected to police violence.

Among those taken into custody were BEKSAV Co-Chair Ahmet Uçar, Ayflenur Demir; Cemil Aksu of the Polen Ecology Collective; and Rufla Sabur, spokesperson for Grup Vardiya. Other detainees included members of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP); Partizan; the Social Freedom Party (TÖP); Proletarian Revolutionary Stance and Kaldiraç.

DEV Tekstil, a union representing textile workers, said its Istanbul provincial representative Okan Karaçam was also detained. The union stated that police broke down the door and ransacked his home during the raid.

Separately, Alican Dogan, a student in the mechatronics department at Yildiz Technical University, was detained at his dormitory without explanation and taken to the counter-terrorism unit, according to the Evrensel daily.

The detentions come amid heightened political tensions. In March, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a prominent figure from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the main political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was detained on charges widely seen as politically motivated.

His arrest triggered large protests and drew criticism from international observers, including the European Union and the Council of Europe, over the government’s crackdown on political dissent.

In the weeks following Iamoglu’s arrest, the opposition intensified its calls for mass participation in May Day rallies.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced that Taksim Square would again be closed to demonstrations this year, citing security and public order concerns.

In response, the CHP called on supporters to gather in Saraçhane, where city hall is located, and reaffirmed its demand for access to Taksim. Many leftist groups criticise the CHP for what they see as acquiescing to the government’s ban on gatherings in Turkey’s most populous city’s main square.

On 14 May, Amnesty International will publish its findings into unnecessary and excessive use of force against peaceful protesters during demonstrations that followed the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul in March 2025.

‘The Turkish authorities must lift all restrictions on a planned May Day solidarity demonstration in Istanbul’s Taksim Square and allow people to gather peacefully in accordance with a ruling by Turkey’s Constitutional Court, Amnesty International said on Wednesday.

The organisation is also calling on law enforcement officials to respect, protect and facilitate people’s right to peaceful assembly and not use force against peaceful protesters. Some trade unions and other civil society organisations have pledged to gather in Taksim Square despite preparations to restrict the square with metal barriers and several social media posts by the Istanbul governor Davut Gül in recent days declaring that the area remains off-limits.

‘On 29 and 30 April, dozens of individuals were detained from their homes in advance of May Day, in what was reported as a pre-emptive action in relation to their plans to assemble in Taksim Square.

Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Europe, Dinushika Dissanayake said: ‘The restrictions on May Day celebrations in Taksim Square are based on entirely spurious security and public order grounds and fly in the face of the 2023 Constitutional Court ruling. The restrictions must be urgently lifted.

‘Taksim Square is a place of huge symbolic significance for the Turkish trade union and workers movements and others who have gathered in protest and in celebration. For more than a decade, the Turkish authorities have unlawfully restricted people’s right to peaceful assembly and criminalised peaceful protests that take place in the square. It is vital that this year, May Day celebrations are able to proceed.’

The ban on May Day rallies in Taksim Square dates back to 2013, when, on multiple occasions, the police violently prevented trade unions, their supporters and other organisations from gathering.

In December 2023, Tukey’s Constitutional Court ruled that the right to freedom of peaceful assembly of D‹SK (the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers’ Trade Unions), during the May Day celebrations in Taksim Square in 2014 and 2015 had been violated by the bans and forceful dispersals of protesters by law enforcement officials.

In 2013, a European Court of Human Rights ruling had also found violation of the right to peaceful assembly by the state for the restrictions on the May Day rally in Taksim Square in 2008.

Dinushika Dissanayake said: The binding decisions of the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights must be respected by the authorities.

‘The Turkish authorities, including law enforcement officials, must ensure that they fulfil their duty to enable peaceful assemblies to take place. They must also take all necessary steps to protect participants’ enjoyment of their rights.’

The Constitutional Court ruled in 2023 that preventing May Day celebrations at Taksim Square constituted a violation of the constitutional right to organise public meetings and demonstrations, as safeguarded by Article 34 of the Constitution.