CITIZENS and trade unions in cities around Europe took to the streets yesterday for May Day marches, and to put out protest messages to their governments.
In France, the holiday was used as a rallying cry against newly re-elected President Emmanuel Macron.
May Day is a time of high emoMay Daytion for participants and their causes, with police on the ready.
Turkish police moved in quickly in Istanbul and encircled protesters near the barred-off Taksim Square – where 34 people were killed in 1977 during a May Day event when shots were fired into the crowd from a nearby building.
Yesterday, police detained 164 people for demonstrating without permits and resisting police at the square, the Istanbul governor’s office said.
At a site on the Asian side of Istanbul, a May Day gathering drew thousands, singing, chanting and waving banners, a demonstration organised by the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey.
Police officers scuffle with a group of protesters, who attempted to defy a ban and march on Taksim Square to celebrate the day.
In Italy, after a two-year pandemic lull, an outdoor mega-concert was set for Rome with rallies and protests in cities across the country. Besides work, peace was an underlying theme with calls for an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Italy’s three main labor unions were focusing their main rally in the hilltop town of Assisi, a frequent destination for peace protests. This year’s slogan is “Working for peace.”
“It’s a May Day of social and civil commitment for peace and labor,” said the head of Italy’s CISL union, Daniela Fumarola.