Turkey: Press Conference Held Demanding Release of Those Arrested Leading Up to May 1st
Featured image: May 1 Taksim Initiative press conference held at the Constructions Workers’ Union office. Source: Yeni Demokrasi
On May 11th, press conference have been carried out by the May 1 Taksim Initiative, of which Partizan is a component. The press conference evaluated the resistance carried out in Mecidiyeköy on May 1st, as part of the May Day march towards Taksim Square in Istanbul. The press conference also demanded the release of 14 people, including 6 Partizan readers, who were arrested in operations leading up to the 1st of May.
A statement titled “Taksim Will Be Liberated With Us, We Will Get the May 1st Prisoners Back!” was read, in which the decision of certain political organizations to confine themselves to the “permitted rally” in governmentally designated area was condemned, explaining the impulse to form the May 1 Taksim Initiative, stating that “The will of Taksim is nothing without its defenders.”, and explained a broad campaign in the months leading up to the 1st of May, where many organization had come together choosing the path of struggle.
The May 1 Taksim Initiative explains: “47 of our comrades were detained in operations conducted in the early hours of April 28th, and many more are now wanted. Doors were broken down during house raids, and our detained comrades were subjected to torture and ill-treatment in hospitals and police stations. 14 of these 47 friends were arrested for their activities calling people to Taksim, which were deemed ‘illegal.’ […] Going to Taksim on May 1st and calling for people to go to Taksim is not a crime, it is a right. Our arrested comrades must be released immediately!”
Concluding the statement the May 1 Taksim Initiative writes: “We will preserve and further advance this shared culture of struggle that we have carried forward from May 1st, 2025 to 2026. We will expand the struggle to liberate Taksim through our shoulder-to-shoulder struggles based on the unity, struggle, and solidarity of the Turkish working class. We trust in the working class and the people’s will to resist, and we draw strength from it. In this process, we will not abandon our imprisoned comrades; we will not let them be forgotten; we will secure their release.”
You can read the full note here:
