Turkish police fire tear gas, arrest dozens at May Day rallies

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Turkish Police use pepper spray to disperse demonstrators during a May Day (Labour Day) rally, marking international Workers’ Day, in Besiktas, a district of Istanbul, on May 1, 2026. Turkish police fired tear gas and arrested dozens of people holding May Day demonstrations in Istanbul, AFP journalists said. Two groups were specially singled out in the city’s European side after signalling their intention to march to Taksim square — the scene of several anti-government protests in the past — which was sealed off overnight by police. (Photo by Yasin AKGUL / AFP)

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Turkish police on Friday fired tear gas and arrested dozens of people holding May Day demonstrations in Istanbul, as thousands rallied nationwide.

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According to the CHD Lawyers Association, nearly 200 people were arrested in Istanbul, where police fired tear gas from riot-control vehicles into the crowd, AFP journalists observed.

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Images aired on the opposition channel HALK TV also showed the president of the Turkish Workers’ Party, Erkan Bas, engulfed in pepper spray.

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“Those in power already speak 365 days a year, so let workers talk about the hardships they face at least one day a year,” he said.

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Two groups were specially singled out in the city’s European side after signalling their intention to march to Taksim square — the scene of several anti-government protests in the past — which was sealed off overnight by police.

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A union official, Basaran Aksu, was arrested just after he had denounced the Taksim lockdown.

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“You can’t close off a square to the workers of Turkey. Everyone uses Taksim, for official ceremonies, for celebrations. Only the labourers, the workers, the poor find the square closed to them,” he fumed.

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May 1, which celebrates workers and the working classes, sees a major police deployment in Turkey every year, with a large area in the heart of Istanbul around Taksim Square sealed off.

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Last year, protests moved to the Kadikoy area of the city and more than 400 people were arrested.

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On Friday, a large deployment of police, many in riot gear, and metal barricades were seen choking access to central neighbourhoods of Istanbul.

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In the Mecidiyekoy district, police were seen by AFP using tear gas on the crowd, which included members of a Marxist party, the HKP, who tried to push through while chanting “USA murderer, (Turkey’s ruling party) AKP accomplice”.

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Police encircling the Besiktas neighbourhood stepped in — sometimes violently — whenever a chant was taken up by the demonstrators. AFP saw several protesters thrown to the ground.

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Unions and civil society associations had called for the May 1 demonstrations under the slogan “Bread. Peace. Freedom”.

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Inflation in Turkey is officially pegged at 30 percent but is closer to 40, according to independent estimates.

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In Ankara, about 100 coal miners who had staged a nine-day hunger strike to demand wage arrears were cheered as they joined the May Day march, which was notably large and youthful and monitored by a significant police presence, an AFP journalist said.

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Earlier this week, Turkish authorities issued arrest and search warrants against 62 people, of whom they deemed 46 — including journalists, trade unionists and opposition figures — were “likely to carry out attacks”.

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AFP

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