Turkey: 13 People Charged in the 1st of May Operations
We hereby share an unofficial translation of a report published by Yeni Demokrasi on the repression against Turkish activists in the framework of the crackdown unleashed against the mobilizations for the 1st of May.
Before International Workers’ Day on 1st of May, 92 people, including readers of Partizan, were detained during home raids on the morning of April 29. The 1st of May 2025 Organizing Committee held a press conference stating that they would not abandon the Taksim mandate and called for a gathering in front of Şişli Mosque. Many individuals, including Yunus Özgür, the Organization Responsible for Construction Workers’ Union (İnşaat-İş), Kanber Saygılı, the General Secretary of Limter-İş, and Şahin Başarener, the President of Kataş-Sen, were also detained during police raids on their homes on the morning of April 30. Additionally, among the more than 400 people detained on 1st of May, 36 were held for further proceedings.
Five readers of Partizan who were detained on April 29 and 1st of May were released under judicial control after their court interrogation.
13 PEOPLE WERE CHARGED
Among those detained in the home raids before 1st of May were Eylül Devrim Altepe from SGDF, Devrim Yurtsever, an Organization Specialist from Limter-İş, Ali Haydar Saygılı, a member of the ESP Central Executive Committee, Aydın Kılıçdere, Hüseyin İldan, Perihan Erkılınç, a reporter for Özgür Gelecek, Muhammed Hizmetçi, a representative of the Struggle Unity Platform, Songül Yücel, the Editor-in-Chief of Önsöz Magazine, Merve Demirel from the Assembly of Resistances, Hasan Kaşkır, Hatun Polat, Cemile Temizkalp, and Özmen Mertkan, all of whom were charged by the court.
CHARGES TO THE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Kanber Saygılı, the General Secretary of Limter-İş, Yunus Özgür, the Organization Responsible for Construction Workers’ Union, Kemal Yılmaz, the Organization Secretary of DGD-SEN, and Şahin Başarener, the General President of KATAŞ-SEN, were referred to the court with charges. Saygılı, Özgür, Yılmaz, and Başarener were released under judicial control.
