Turkey arrests 29 in connection with Labor Day clashes

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish security forces on Friday arrested 29 people in connection with clashes with police during Labor Day rallies and more arrests are expected, according to the interior minister.

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on X that 29 more people were arrested on Friday morning for “attacking police officers with sticks and stones” during Labor Day rallies in Istanbul on May 1. Police had arrested 217 people on Wednesday.

“Our operations are ongoing to apprehend other individuals identified as involved in the attack through camera footage and facial recognition technology,” Yerlikaya said. 

Protesters in Istanbul on Wednesday attempted to gather in symbolic Taksim Square, where rallies are banned, to commemorate Labor Day, also known as International Workers’ Day. The protesters clashed with police forces at Sarachane Square, a few kilometers away. 

Labor Day events in Istanbul frequently end with clashes with police. This year, some 42,000 police officers were deployed in Istanbul.

Rallies have been banned in Taksim Square since 2013 after anti-government protests targeting the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was prime minister at the time.

Before May 1, Erdogan had said that Taksim was not a “place for rallies” and demonstrations should be held at authorized locations.

“In 55 of our provinces, permission has been granted for 103 events. It is clear that the insistence on holding a rally in an area other than those permitted is not made in good faith,” Erdogan said.

In 2023, the Constitutional Court ruled that banning protests at Taksim Square was a violation of the law.

The popular square was a rallying ground for Labor Day celebrations until May 1977, when at least 34 people were killed during what became known as the “Taksim Square massacre.” Erdogan’s government reopened the square for protests in 2010, but it was shut once more after the Gezi Park anti-government protests in 2013.