TURKISH RIOT POLICE SAVAGELY ATTACKED PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATORS IN ISTANBUL
PanARMENIAN.Net
01.05.2009 15:31 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On May 1, Turkish riot police savagely attacked
peaceful demonstrators, including representatives of Revolutionary
Movement and PKK Parties, with clubs and fired pepper spray and water
cannon to prevent them taking part in a May Day rally heading to
Taksim Square, the central meeting place in Istanbul. 5 were injured,
and 10 detained, according to preliminary data.
Last week Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler expressed his determination
to enforce the ban on May Day demonstrations at Taksim Square, which
was enacted after the military coup in 1980 by the then-ruling junta
and has been continued by consecutive governments ever since. This has
a particularly symbolic meaning because on May Day 1977 right-wing
provocateurs, presumably helped by state forces, opened fire on a
left-wing protest in Taksim, resulting in the deaths of 40 people.