Police Fire Tear Gas and Water Cannons at Istanbul Protesters

By CEYLAN YEGINSUMAY 1, 2015

ISTANBUL — Riot police officers used tear gas and water cannons to disperse hundreds of protesters who took to the streets of Istanbul on Friday, defying a government ban on May Day celebrations in Taksim Square.

At least 250 people were detained, according to the Istanbul Bar Association.

The authorities had tried to lock down the city by erecting roadblocks and suspending service on the main public transportation lines. About 10,000 police officers were deployed to stop labor unions and activists from gathering in Taksim Square, where violence has marred May Day celebrations in the past.

In the Besiktas district, activists shouted resistance slogans and May Day chants. Many protesters were stopped and searched by the police, and several people carrying gas masks were arrested in the Sisli district.

“Turkey has a highly oppressive government with dictatorial tendencies,” said Kani Beko, the president of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey, which represents more than 320,000 workers in the country. “They would do anything to prevent anyone calling for better democracy in this country,” he added.

A man fell to the ground after riot police officers used a water cannon to disperse protesters in Istanbul on Friday. CreditBulent Kilic/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Cengiz Umut, a member of the trade union confederation, said of the square: “Taksim is ours. It is a symbol of May Day. Gathering there is our right.”

“Look at all this police around you,” he added. “This is pure fascism.”

Taksim Square was closed to May Day celebrations by the military government in 1980 after an episode in 1977 when gunmen opened fire on the rally, killing dozens of protesters.

The government reopened the square for May Day in 2010, but then closed it again, citing security concerns. The square has been under tight police control since 2013, when it became the center of sweeping antigovernment protests that roiled the country, posing one of the greatest challenges to the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the former prime minister who is now president.

Mr. Erdogan met on Friday with representatives of labor groups at the presidential palace in Ankara, and called for May Day, a national holiday in Turkey, to be celebrated in a festive atmosphere.

“Taksim Square is not suitable for rallies, as rallying in Taksim Square would mean paralyzing transportation in Istanbul,” he said.

The governor of Istanbul, Vasip Sahin, said before the events on Friday that while union representatives were welcome to lay wreaths in the square to commemorate the dead protesters, any mass gatherings should be held in designated areas outside the city center and not in the square.

The protests on Friday came at a time of deep polarization in Turkey, with mounting opposition to what many see as the authoritarian style of Mr. Erdogan and his government. The authorities have responded by increasingly quashing dissent. A bill passed in March expanded police powers and stiffened the penalties for unauthorized demonstrations.

“This government has made this city unlivable,” said Alev Kuyumcu, a protester who lives in Besiktas. “They make us suffocate on a national holiday. You can’t even leave the house.”