allesennogwat
05-01-2007, 05:08 AM
Turkish police used tear gas and water cannon to break up a communist May Day demonstration in Istanbul on Tuesday, arresting more than 100 people, including half-a-dozen union leaders.
At least one person was badly hurt, the DISK labour confederation said.
Public transport was paralyzed in the sprawling city of more than 12 million as the authorities blocked roads, cancelled ferry services and closed metro stations in a bid to cope with two crowds of demonstrators on either side of the Bosphorus.
The rallies came against a backdrop of simmering tensions between the army and government over a disputed presidential election, on which the country's highest court was expected to deliver a ruling later Tuesday.
Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler put the number of arrests at "more than 100" as participants in one of the rallies, organized by DISK and several other left-wing unions, tried to march on central Taksim Square in defiance of a ban.
The march aimed to commemorate the 30th anniversary of a deadly rally at the square, when unidentified gunmen opened fire on a crowd of peaceful demonstrators, sparking panic that left 34 dead.
Union leaders later managed to strike a deal with police, allowing a limited group of demonstrators access to the square.
"We will only be a few thousand marching up to Taksim Square, but we are millions in our hearts," said DISK president Suleyman Celebi.
DISK said in a statement that six union leaders, including their secretary-general Musa Cam, were among scores arrested earlier near the Inonu Stadium, just down the hill from Taksim Square.
Several hundred people gathered chanting "Long Live May Day," "We will not bow to pressure," and "Shoulder to shoulder against fascism" before being dispersed by police, who quickly moved in on any group attempting to march to the square.
"We do not deserve this -- Turkey does not deserve this. You are giving a shameful image of Turkey -- that of the military coups of 1971 and 1980," health workers' union leader Dogan Halis said in a brief speech that ended when officers bundled him into a police vehicle.
Guler had rejected several earlier DISK demands to officially hold their rally on Taksim Square, citing "intelligence that many illegal organisations are planning to go there... (to) take on the police."
In another area near the square, the Okmeydani district, around 1,000 young demonstrators armed with sticks and stones faced off against a police barricade.
Busloads of demonstrators coming from Ankara and prevented from crossing the Bosphorus bridge to join the rally on the European side, were gathering in an area know as the Mustafa Kemal neighborhood in Umraniye, on the Asian saide, police sources said.
Other buses were stopped at toll booths at the Istanbul end of the motorway from Ankara, and DISK said police were forcing many of them back to the capital.
DISK accused police of throwing tear gas canisters inside some of the buses and said one woman demonstrator was hospitalized with a broken arm and cranial trauma.
Another May Day rally in Istanbul, held in Kadikoy Square on the Asian side of the city and organized by the moderate TURK-IS labour confederation, was reported going ahead without incident.
About 17,000 police have been deployed in Istanbul to cope with the demonstrations, officials said.
In protests linked to the disputed presidential election, more than one million people demonstrated in Istanbul two days ago against the government and in favour of secularism and democracy.
At least one person was badly hurt, the DISK labour confederation said.
Public transport was paralyzed in the sprawling city of more than 12 million as the authorities blocked roads, cancelled ferry services and closed metro stations in a bid to cope with two crowds of demonstrators on either side of the Bosphorus.
The rallies came against a backdrop of simmering tensions between the army and government over a disputed presidential election, on which the country's highest court was expected to deliver a ruling later Tuesday.
Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler put the number of arrests at "more than 100" as participants in one of the rallies, organized by DISK and several other left-wing unions, tried to march on central Taksim Square in defiance of a ban.
The march aimed to commemorate the 30th anniversary of a deadly rally at the square, when unidentified gunmen opened fire on a crowd of peaceful demonstrators, sparking panic that left 34 dead.
Union leaders later managed to strike a deal with police, allowing a limited group of demonstrators access to the square.
"We will only be a few thousand marching up to Taksim Square, but we are millions in our hearts," said DISK president Suleyman Celebi.
DISK said in a statement that six union leaders, including their secretary-general Musa Cam, were among scores arrested earlier near the Inonu Stadium, just down the hill from Taksim Square.
Several hundred people gathered chanting "Long Live May Day," "We will not bow to pressure," and "Shoulder to shoulder against fascism" before being dispersed by police, who quickly moved in on any group attempting to march to the square.
"We do not deserve this -- Turkey does not deserve this. You are giving a shameful image of Turkey -- that of the military coups of 1971 and 1980," health workers' union leader Dogan Halis said in a brief speech that ended when officers bundled him into a police vehicle.
Guler had rejected several earlier DISK demands to officially hold their rally on Taksim Square, citing "intelligence that many illegal organisations are planning to go there... (to) take on the police."
In another area near the square, the Okmeydani district, around 1,000 young demonstrators armed with sticks and stones faced off against a police barricade.
Busloads of demonstrators coming from Ankara and prevented from crossing the Bosphorus bridge to join the rally on the European side, were gathering in an area know as the Mustafa Kemal neighborhood in Umraniye, on the Asian saide, police sources said.
Other buses were stopped at toll booths at the Istanbul end of the motorway from Ankara, and DISK said police were forcing many of them back to the capital.
DISK accused police of throwing tear gas canisters inside some of the buses and said one woman demonstrator was hospitalized with a broken arm and cranial trauma.
Another May Day rally in Istanbul, held in Kadikoy Square on the Asian side of the city and organized by the moderate TURK-IS labour confederation, was reported going ahead without incident.
About 17,000 police have been deployed in Istanbul to cope with the demonstrations, officials said.
In protests linked to the disputed presidential election, more than one million people demonstrated in Istanbul two days ago against the government and in favour of secularism and democracy.