Workers celebrate May Day in Turkey

Tens of thousands started celebrating May Day in Turkey.

Workers carried slogans demanding jobs and better working conditions.

İstanbul’s Taksim Square carries a significant symbolic importance for May Day celebrations. On May 1, 1977, 34 people were killed during a gathering in the square when shots were fired into the crowd from a nearby building leading to an intervention by security forces and armored vehicles. Most of the casualties resulted from the panic caused by the intervention.

May Day celebrators gathered at three different spots before starting their walk to Taksim Square. A group of participants — including members of the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers’ Unions (DİSK), Energy Workers’ Union, Sports Workers Union, Turkish Actors’ Union, Revolutionary May 1 Platform and Association of International Workers’ Solidarity — convened at DİSK headquarters in İstanbul’s Şişli district to start their walk to Taksim.

Another group of participants — including members of the Turkish Union of Engineers and Architects’ Chambers (TMMOB), Turkish Communist Party (TKP) and People’s Houses (Halkevleri) — gathered in İstanbul’s Beşiktaş and left for Taksim square around 11am.

A third group of participants gathered in Şişhane in İstanbul’s Beyoğlu and included members of the Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (KESK) and Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP) supporters. Additionally a feminist association also joined the third group on their march to Taksim Square.

Meanwhile, the Confederation of Righteous Trade Unions (Hak-İş) and the Civil Servants’ Trade Unions (Memur-Sen) are celebrating the day in Ankara’s Tandoğan Square. Another major celebration is also taking place in the northwestern province of Bursa where members of the Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions (Turk-İş) and the Turkish Public Workers’ Labor Union (Kamu-Sen) have gathered together. People attending the celebrations were seen carrying banners supporting better working conditions and workers’ rights.

For the first time in Turkey’s history, a movement calling itself “Muslim Anti-Capitalists” has joined other leftists groups for the May Day celebrations in Taksim, Istanbul. The members of the group performed prayers at Fatih Mosque before setting off for Taksim.

Meanwhile, in a message released on Tuesday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wished all workers a happy May Day. “We have looked at the problems of workers as our own problems since the first day of our government. I do hope that May Day is celebrated in a friendly atmosphere and in solidarity,” Erdoğan stressed in his message.

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