News Digest

Istanbul under lockdown to prevent May Day protests ahead of Turkish election

Istanbul went into a security lockdown on Friday as thousands of police manned barricades and closed streets to stop May Day rallies at Taksim Square, a symbolic point for protests. Citing security concerns, authorities shut down much of the city’s public transport and dispatched riot police to block Taksim off from demonstrators. A traditional rallying ground for leftists, the central square saw weeks of unrest in 2013. Hundreds of flag-waving protesters gathered in the nearby Besiktas neighbourhood, where they were held back by lines of police. Thousands of protesters also gathered to march in the capital Ankara. Critics say President Tayyip Erdogan and the government have become more authoritarian ahead of June elections.

People want to express their problems but the government doesn’t want those problems to be heard ahead of election.

Opposition politician Mahmut Tanal

The government had said Taksim would only be open to those who came peacefully and not for “illegal demonstrations”. "I wish May 1 to be celebrated in a festive mood without provocations,“ Erdogan said in a statement. Erdogan has previously dismissed protesters as "riff-raff” and terrorists, outraged by the unrest in 2013 that brought unwanted international attention and posed the biggest challenge to his AK Party since it came to power in 2002. He is aiming for a massive victory for the party in June parliamentary polls, which would allow it to change the constitution and give him broad presidential powers.