Police Blocks A Group With Flags In Taksim Square

- Police assaulted and blocked a group with flags, attempting to march towards the center of the Taksim Square, under police blockade to block the May Day celebrations.

Many police officers surrounded the group, beating with batons, to block them to enter the Taksim Square, and arrested some members of the group.

Istanbul’s Taksim Square and surrounding districts are on lockdown by more than 20 thousand police officers, and water cannons (TOMA) and iron crush barriers to prevent celebrations of May Day.

Authorities in Istanbul have tightened security ahead of the national holiday, with iron barricades erected in the city center.

Taksim Square has symbolic meaning for the Turkish left, as over 30 people were killed in 1977 when suspected nationalists opened fire on May Day participants from what is now the Marmara Hotel.

VIDEO STREAM
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- The group carrying Communist Party flags running towards the center of Taksim Square
- Police officers forcing the group away from the square
- Some group members arrested
- Police officers surround the group
- Police officers forcing the group away from the square

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