Turkish authorities detained 575 people by 6 p.m. Friday during May Day demonstrations in Istanbul, according to the Istanbul governor’s office, as small groups of protesters tried to approach areas the government had declared off-limits, the Associated Press reported.
Friday’s demonstrations marked International Workers’ Day, a national holiday in Turkey. Taksim Square in Istanbul has often been a focal point for May Day protests, but Turkish authorities have restricted the square on security grounds.
According to the report, authorities detained more than 500 May Day demonstrators after the protesters attempted to march in areas declared off-limits. As the day unfolded, small groups kept appearing around Taksim Square, where police maintained a blockade, while some protesters held union banners and chanted for the square to be reopened.
The main gathering point was in the nearby Mecidiyeköy district, where hundreds of participants were met with water cannons and pepper spray before being detained, the report said. Authorities’ stated approach is to prevent protesters from reaching Taksim Square, a pattern that has shaped how May Day demonstrations in Istanbul play out each year.
The detentions also came after Turkey’s top Constitutional Court issued a ruling the day before, finding that the rights to peaceful assembly were violated for three people who had been detained for 58 days in 2024 around May Day protests. The court ruling set what the report described as a precedent for how May Day protests may be treated in relation to peaceful assembly rights.
In a statement, the Istanbul governor’s office said the public had been informed of safety precautions beforehand. The office said “certain marginal groups dismissed the precautions, and clashed with police officers as they do every year,” and it said 575 people were detained by 6 p.m.
The report noted that violence at Taksim Square in 1977 left more than 30 people dead, a reference authorities have used to justify the area’s status as a no-go zone for protesters on security grounds.