Over 400 detained in Istanbul’s May Day protest as Turkey restricts transit

ANKARA — Istanbul police detained more than 400 people on Thursday during May Day demonstrations — the largest display of defiance since last month’s mass protests over Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu’s arrest — held under sweeping restrictions.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced late Thursday that 407 people had been detained in Istanbul, raising the previous tally of 384 provided by the Istanbul Governor’s Office.

The statement did not give the locations of the detentions but most of the demonstrators were taken into police custody as they moved toward Istanbul’s Taksim Square, a symbolic venue to mark International Workers Day. 

In one of the province’s tightest ever restrictions, local authorities permitted just a single line of ferry services for crossings from the province’s Asian side to the European side. All other transit routes were halted and metro services to and from Taksim and surrounding stations were suspended from dawn to 8 p.m. local time. 

More than 52,000 police officers were deployed around the province’s main squares, according to the governor’s office.

All roads leading to Istanbul’s city hall in the Sarachane district were also closed. During the week following Imamoglu’s detention, tens of thousands gathered outside the building, where they clashed with police.

Imamoglu, the presidential contender from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), was detained over corruption and terrorism-related accusations on March 19 , sparking mass protests across Turkey. Government critics called the detention a politically motivated move against a key Erdogan rival. The Istanbul mayor, who was formally arrested on March 24 on corruption charges, denies any wrongdoing as he awaits trial behind bars.

CHP chairman Ozgur Ozel joined the May Day demonstrations in Kadikoy in Istanbul’s Asian side, organized by labor unions.

May Day protests were also in the capital and the Aegean port city of Izmir as well as other parts of the country, largely without police intervention. Police also detained one person in Turkey’s northern province of Tokat and another in the predominantly Kurdish southeastern province of Van, Yerlikaya said.

“A total of 212 gatherings were held across 78 provinces with the participation of 286,584 citizens,” Yerlikaya said.