MAY DAY TO BE HELD IN TAKSIM SQUARE..

Istanbul Gov. Muammer Güler said May Day celebrations would be held in central Taksim Square after he met with union representatives on Tuesday, Anatolia news agency reported.

May Day celebrations, carried out on May 1, have previously been notorious for clashes between authorities and protestors who have tried to enter Taksim Square. The Governor’s Office has repeatedly declined many unions’ requests to gather in the iconic square.

“According to the meeting and rally law no. 2911, Taksim is not an area for rallies or congregations,” Güler said. “But it will be allocated for the celebrations of the Labor and Solidarity Day, according to the exceptions part of the law.”

Union confederations, the Governor’s Office and police will be cooperating in the celebrations, said Güler, adding that May 1 was announced as the Labor and Solidarity Day within a Cabinet decision in 2008. He said May Day was later announced as a national holiday with a regulation on the law.

“It is a right for our workers to celebrate May Day as a festival with peace and security that suits a democracy,” said Güler. “We reached an agreement to celebrate May 1 Labor and Solidarity Day from all social angles with peace and democracy to suit our country.”

Meanwhile, Mustafa Kumlu, head of The Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions, or Türk-İş, said they would do their best to make the May 1 celebration worthy of its name.

This year celebrations will be allowed in Taksim after a 33-year delay. In 1977, a massive celebration for May Day was organized in Taksim Square. Unidentified people opened fire on the crowed from The Intercontinental Hotel, now the Marmara Hotel. The ensuing mass panic left over 30 dead and more than 100 wounded.

Güler met with three workers’ union confederations, Türk-İş; the Labor Confederation, or Hak-İş; the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers’ Unions, or DİSK; and public workers union confederations, the Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions, or KESK; the Turkish Public Workers’ Labor Union, or Kamu-Sen, the Civil Servants’ Trade Union, or Memur-Sen.

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