Demonstrators play music during the annual May Day (Labour Day) demonstration marking the international day of the workers in Ankara, on May 1, 2022. — AFP pic
ISTANBUL, May 1 — Turkish police today detained more than 160 protestors who were trying to hold a May Day rally in defiance of a ban imposed by the governor’s office.
AFP images showed riot police clashing with protestors near Istanbul’s Taksim Square and pinning some of them forcefully to the ground before rounding them up in a police car.
The Istanbul governor’s office said that 164 people were detained after staging “an unauthorised rally” and refusing to disperse despite police warnings.
An AFP photographer saw around 20 protestors detained near Taksim Square.
There are often detentions during the annual May 1 workers’ holiday.
Taksim has been a flashpoint on May Day with frequent clashes since 34 people were killed there on May 1, 1977 during an unstable period in modern Turkey’s history.
A small group led by the Confederation of Turkish Revolutionary Trade Unions attended an officially-approved event at Taksim Square. — AFP