Below there is a news story from "Turkish Daily News" about brutal
police
attack against workers in Istanbul. According to unions 900 people
were
taken into custody. And police attacked the headquarters of Freedom
And
Solidarity Party (=C3=96DP) and Trade Union Federation (D=C4=B0SK).
You can send your letters of protest and solidarity to
1mayistanbul@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
.
You can find detailed re****ts, photos and videos at following links.
Videos;
http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/modules/habervideo/video.asp?CatID=3D3&cbVideo=3D479=
3&cbQuality=3D1
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3DvNnDGsWh7JQ
http://www.cnnturk.com/video/index.asp?vid=3D4943
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News from several sources;
http://news.google.com/news?hl=3Den&ned=3D&ie=3DUTF-8&ncl=3D1151986428
<http://fotogaleri.ntvmsnbc.com/detay.aspx?
categoryID=3D9&galleryID=3D1278&picID=3D15547&dp=3D2>
Clouds of Taksim tear gas force unions to back down
(http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=3D103430
)
*Friday,
May 2, 2008*
*Trade unions are forced to back down from their demand to rally in
Taksim
Square, under extraordinary police presence. Demonstrators in
=C5=9Ei=C5=9Fl=
i
disperse
under tear gas attacks, but scattered groups protest in streets around
Taksim, as hundreds of people are taken into custody*
*TAYLAN B=C4=B0LG=C4=B0=C3=87 / =C3=96ZG=C3=9CR KORKMAZ*
ISTANBUL - Turkish Daily News
The contest of wills between the government and trade unions ended
yesterday with unions backing down from their demand to hold a rally
in
Taksim Square, overwhelmed by thousands of police, soldiers and an
repeated
clouds of tear gas.
Labor Day, welcomed by mostly peaceful demonstrations elsewhere in
the
world, turned into something just short of torture for demonstrators,
tourists, expats, journalists and the average citizen in Istanbul.
Official
tallies put the number detained at 505 people with six police
officers injured at the time the Turkish Daily News went to press. No
official tally of civilian injuries was available late yesterday but
journalists witnessed scores of beatings, one marching politician
suffered
heart problems while another fainted and patients at one hospital were
forced to flee after the facility was gassed.
As the day began, Istanbul residents knew what was coming when
thousands
of police started blocking all roads leading to Taksim Square, the
location
where trade unions were insistent on celebrating Labor Day due to its
symbolic value, as early as Wednesday night. Walking to the square
from
=C4=B0stiklal Street yesterday morning, one could observe that riot police
=EF=BF=BDrobocops, as they are called
=EF=BF=BD easily outnumbered civilians and journalists, some with gas
masks.=
The
scene at the square was surreal as Istanbul's most lively area was
besieged
with thousands of polices, the center barricaded with iron fences and
Taksim
Gezi Park turned into a barracks with hundreds of soldiers awaiting
orders.
At least 20,000 policemen were in and around Taksim.
That kind of scene was even a bit too much for citizens, but for
foreigners, it was shocking. "I am terrified," said Margarita, a
Finnish-born British doctor who declined to give her surname. "Nobody
at the
hotel warned me of this." As it was explained the commotion was on
account
of Labor Day, her confusion only grew. "Labor Day means holiday and
big,
peaceful demonstrations. This is bloody annoying." She wanted to reach
the
Marmara Hotel to meet with her friend so that they could go to
Topkap=C4=B1
Palace. The police would not let her. Compounding her problem was the
fact "the police inside" would not let her friend out of the hotel
either.
Through cell phone negotiations, the police were persuaded to let her
out.
Police in the morning forced their way into the Istanbul headquarters
of
D=C4=B0SK, the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers' Unions, in
=C5=9Ei=C5=
=9Fli
district
firing teargas and spraying pressurized water inside. Mehmet Ali
=C3=96zpolat, a
deputy from the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) had a heart
spasm, while =C3=87etin Soysal, another CHP deputy, fainted.
*Controlled force: *
At 10:00 a.m. a tear gas canister exploded right beside a group of
demonstrators who were chanting "Resign, Governor!" against Istanbul
Governor Muammer G=C3=BCler, who had declared the government would use
"controlled force" against protestors. "37MM Multiple Projectile," it
said
on an empty canister. From Wyoming to Istanbul.
Hundreds of members of the CHP, workers from different unions and a
small
group of members of various leftist organizations confronted the
police. The
CHP's deputy, Soysal, tried to stand in front of a police armored
vehicle,
shouting, =EF=BF=BDDon't do this, it is wrong.=EF=BF=BD To no avail.
=EF=BF=BDPolice provoked the people here,=EF=BF=BD he later told the
TDN. =
=EF=BF=BDMay Day
is
celebrated all around the world as a day of celebrations, workers paid
the
price for this right,=EF=BF=BD he said. =EF=BF=BDBut the government does
not=
want to
hear
the voice of the workers. The ruling Justice and Development Party
(AKP)
does not want an organized opposition.=EF=BF=BD
A group of 200 demonstrators escaped to the narrow streets
surrounding
Ni=C5=9Fanta=C5=9F=C4=B1. They chanted slogans and threw rocks at the
police=
.. Police
answered by tear-gassing almost every street in the neighborhood. Some
lowered their launchers when firing, hitting a couple of protestors.
A police car with an unofficial license plate, owned by a high-level
police officer, got caught up in the clashes, where its windows were
smashed
by demonstrators. The scuffle drew protests from citizens, some of
whom
started hurling rocks at the demonstrators from in front of police
lines. =EF=BF=BDWhere
are the residents of this neighborhood, aren't you Turks,=EF=BF=BD shouted
o=
ne
man
just after throwing a big piece of rock. =EF=BF=BDWe cannot let these
bastar=
ds
take
our streets,=EF=BF=BD he said.
Police officers were then applauded by scores of people after they
dispersed the protestors. =EF=BF=BDWe are proud of you,=EF=BF=BD some
chante=
d. =EF=BF=BDThey
got
what they deserved,=EF=BF=BD said a shop owner. =EF=BF=BDThey don't have
the=
right to
come
here and clash with the police on our streets.=EF=BF=BD
*Hospital targeted: *
Later in the morning, the police fired tear gas into the =C5=9Ei=C5=9Fli
E=
tfal
Hospital. Patients and unfortunate citizens tried to flee the
engulfing fog.
Old women coughing and crying were trying to understand what was
happening,
as it was the first time they experienced such a thing. Drugstores and
other
shops pulled down their shutters, but the gas infiltrated everywhere.
At the Confederation Revolutionary Workers' Unions (D=C4=B0SK)
headquarters six
attacks had been witnessed by 10:20 a.m., said Seyit Aslan, secretary
general of G=C4=B1da-=C4=B0=C5=9F trade union. "The first one came without
w=
arning,
while
people were just sitting in front of the building," he said. "Deputies
have
tried calling the governor, the justice minister and the interior
minister
many times, but they refuse to speak."
S=C3=BCleyman =C3=87elebi, president of D=C4=B0SK, and others moved to
the=
barricades to
negotiate with the only official they could talk to, a top police
officer.
The group included =C4=B0smail Hakki Tombul, president of KESK, the
Confederation
of Public Sector Trade Unions, Democratic Society Party (DTP) deputies
Akin
Birdal, Ahmet T=C3=BCrk, Hasip Kaplan and Aysel Tu=C4=9Fluk, and Ufuk
Uras,
deputy and
leader of the Freedom and Solidarity Party (=C3=96DP).
"These events show how far this country is from democracy," said
Ferhat
Tun=C3=A7, a well-known protest music artist. "In the [D=C4=B0SK]
building, =
I
for one
moment thought they were going to burn us down. The people should see
that
the AKP has never been a party that sup****ts democracy."
"I have been to 37 countries, but never seen such disgrace," said
Necdet
Kiran, a former seaman and now municipal worker.
Half an hour later, =C3=87elebi and the others arrived. As expected,
they
could
not obtain permission to march to Taksim. Speaking to the crowd from
atop a
party campaign bus, =C3=87elebi explained the situation. "Istanbul is a
giant
prison now," he said. "In order not to be tools in this government
provocation, we end our protest."
Easier said then done. For the road to Mecidiyek=C3=B6y and Taksim were
barricaded by hundreds of robocops. Some protestors tried to leave,
only to
be tear-gassed again. Marching or not, the police seemed intent to
finish
their tear gas stocks. As small crowds in parallel streets tried to
demonstrate, only to be tear-gassed again, the tem****ary solution
became
another speech to the main group in front of the CHP headquarters in
=C5=9Ei=C5=9Fli.
After blasting the government and the police with slogans, people
dispersed
in various streets.
In the afternoon demonstrators moved to =C4=B0stiklal Street and other
locations near Taksim Square. Siraselviler, =C4=B0stiklal and other
streets
were
filled with poisonous gas. Nearly 500 people were taken into custody
during
the day, police said. But trade unions put the number at around 900.
As
scattered protests continued into the evening, Istanbul celebrated
another
unique Labor Day.
|
