2024-05-01 13:08:34
A multi-thousand-strong demonstration on the occasion of Labor Day – May 1 – was organized today in the central Ankara square “Tandogan”, reports BTA.
Despite the bad weather, the procession from Atatürk Cultural Center to Tandogan Square was attended by a huge number of citizens, including many trade unionists, workers, students, pensioners, families with babies and small children. In the Turkish capital, it has been continuously raining since yesterday, accompanied at times by lightning.
Some of the citizens taking part in the demonstrations carried raincoats or umbrellas, but others walked wearing only outerwear.
The demonstration in the center of the Turkish capital, authorized by the local authorities, was organized at the call of the leading unions DISK, KESK, Ankara Medical Chamber, Ankara Dentists Chamber and other trade unions.
A huge number of members of the Communist Party of Turkey, the Workers’ Party, including many representatives of the women’s faction of the Workers’ Party, representatives of the Workers’ Party of Turkey (TIP), employees of forestry, the Road Construction Service participated in the rally today.
The demonstrators raised various slogans, including “Long live May 1”, which is the rally’s motto, “Justice, justice”, “We produce, we will manage”, “Give a budget not for investment, but for education”, “Long live May 1 in defense of peace and our rights”, “End exploitation and killings in the workplace”, “We want safe areas to work”. Participants in the demonstration waved Turkish flags and some also raised Palestinian flags.
Participants in the protest also carried placards with slogans demanding the release of jailed 47-year-old Can Atalay, who was elected to parliament last May as a representative of the Workers’ Party of Turkey (TIP), an ally of the major pro-Kurdish party DEM. In January, Atalai was stripped of his parliamentary status.
Some of the demonstrators today carried large photographs of loved ones and colleagues who died in the line of duty.
Various songs were played during the demonstration in Ankara, and many demonstrators broke into dance.
The security measures around Tandogan Square were extremely strengthened. A huge number of policemen guarded the demonstration. Two checkpoints were set up at the entrance to the square, and all those who wanted to go to the demonstration were thoroughly searched.
Today, public transport in Ankara is free, including the metro. Metro trains today, however, do not stop at “Anadolu Anutkabir” station, where Tandogan Square is located. Congratulatory messages on the occasion of May 1 are sent over loudspeakers in the subway.
In the area of ”Tandogan” square, traffic was blocked along a number of large boulevards.
The situation in the Turkish capital in the early afternoon hours was calm.