Demonstrators, police clash in Istanbul May Day celebrations

[ozgurluk at xs4all.nl]

TDN: May 2, 1998

Demonstrators, police clash in Istanbul May Day celebrations

  * Police detained at least 200 leftist extremists. At least 74
 people were injured, and demonstrators burned cars in the central
 part of Istanbul
  _________________________________________________________________

 Hakan Aslaneli

Istanbul - Extremist demonstrators wielding sticks and stones and
wearing masks clashed with police in downtown Istanbul Friday at the
end of a May Day rally, leaving at least 74 people injured, including
two policeman, security officials said. They were unable to give the
precise number of individuals involved since small clashes had broken
out in a number of locations. Of the 74 injured, 28 were police, 42
were demonstrators and four were journalists.

Police detained at least 200 extremists, all believed to be members of
the outlawed Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C), a
group which has been blamed for political murders, bombings and
robberies.

Security officials said the clashes broke out when an estimated 5,000
members of different extremist groups, wearing red masks and berets,
tried to forcibly enter Caglayan Square for the May Day rally.

Unable to break into the square, the demonstrators separated into
small groups and rampaged through the narrow streets of the
Piyalepasa, Okmeydani and Kasimpasa districts, burning vehicles and
throwing stones at public buildings and at the offices of political
parties. A truck was set on fire and was put out by one of the armored
personnel vehicles on the scene.

They then proceeded toward Taksim Square, which was the scene of a
violent May Day rally in 1977, when more than 30 people were killed
following clashes between rival leftist groups. This year however,
they were unable to get past heavy police lines set up around the
square.

  Police in a panic

>From the early morning hours, the police were overwhelmed with bomb
threats in Istanbul. The number of threats reached 150 as empty brief
cases, in particular, were left in garbage cans at various points
around the city.

All Istanbul police units had their leave cancelled in an effort to
secure public order on the streets. But the demonstrators were
well-organized and the police did not have sufficient numbers to
contain those who spread out down the side streets.

Illegal groups chose the areas near Taksim for their activities, but
another big group with sticks in hand and their faces concealed chose
to carry out their protest in Besiktas' Dikilitas Park. The Besiktas
police, however, surrounded the demonstrators and prevented the
incident from getting too out of control.

Police used water cannons, truncheons and armored police vehicles to
break up some groups, as security forces were met with stones and
sticks.

  Main meeting proceeds quietly

May 1 started off quietly enough as the general chairmen of the
Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions (Turk-Is), the Confederation of
Revolutionary Workers' Unions (DISK), the Labor Confederation (Hak-Is)
and the Confederation of Public Workers' Unions (KESK) gathered in
Taksim Square to place a wreath on the Taksim monument. The chairmen
also left red carnations at Kazanci Yokusu, where a number of people
died in the tragic events of May 1, 1977. The labor union leaders were
accompanied by a number of politicians and members of Parliament.
Afterwards they went by bus to Sisli's Caglayan Square for the main
meeting.

Some 25,000 workers, political party officials, and civil servants
gathered peacefully at Caglayan Square to dance, sing songs and listen
to labor leaders speak.

In his address to the assembled masses, Turk-Is General Chairman
Bayram Meral stressed the need for unity in order to settle the
problems which the country faces. He further emphasized that Turkey
was currently experiencing some very negative circumstances in
politics and in social and economic areas. "We are celebrating May 1
at a time when supranational capital is threatening the sovereignty of
the country." Meral criticized the privatization process, describing
it as pillage, and drew attention to the straits in which many people
found themselves because of the excessively high inflation rate.

Hak-Is General Chairman Salim Uslu noted that worker solidarity was
the equivalent of talking about peace. KESK General Chairman Siyami
Erdem expressed the hope that the days when workers had had to
struggle to gain their rights had passed and that the future would be
bright.

Participants in the meeting were carrying placards and signs, some of
which read, "Long Live May 1," "Democracy Now," "No to Privatization"
and "The National Budget for Workers, not War."

The Sisli meeting broke up without incident.

  Peaceful rallies held in other cities

The May Day activities in Ankara began at the city's main train
station with a public rally smoothly coordinated by a number of labor
union federations. Among them were Turk-Is, DISK, Hak-Is and KESK. The
crowd chanted slogans while marching downtown, but in general, the
atmosphere was peaceful.

Additionally, members from various parties, including the Republican
People's Party (CHP), the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP), the
People's Democracy Party (HADEP), the Workers' Party (IP), the Labor
Party (EMEP) and various student organizations were present. Security
precautions on the marchers' route were tight.

Public rallies were also held in other cities, including Adana,
Gaziantep, Sivas and Diyarbakir. In Adana, people, also led by union
confederations walked to Ugur Mumcu Circle in the downtown area. In
Diyarbakir, where riot police prevented marchers from walking down
Inonu Street, marchers blocked traffic for a while but soon dispersed
after warnings by security officials.

-- 
Press Agency Ozgurluk
For justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan!
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