Didim Today

As a peaceful May Day celebration in İstanbul’s Taksim Square came to a close on Saturday, Turkey breathed a sigh of relief as fears about an outbreak of violence proved to be unfounded. May 1 has always been a source of tension in Turkey, where it had not been celebrated as an official holiday since the Sept. 12, 1980 coup.

There was conflict year after year over the venue of the observance as workers had not been allowed to celebrate May 1 in Taksim Square since 1977, when 37 people were killed when unidentified perpetrators opened fire on the public on what has come to be known as “Bloody May 1.” For labor unions, celebrations in Taksim have great symbolic importance because of what happened in 1977.

Governments, including the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), had been reluctant to allow May 1 celebrations in Taksim until this year. Now that May Day festivities have been held in a peaceful atmosphere in Taksim, Turkey has begun to heal historic wounds and to look to the future more optimistically as it confronts antidemocratic formations nested within the state.

Vatan’s Ruşen Çakır, who participated in the tragic May Day celebrations in Taksim in 1977, says the May Day celebrations held in the same venue this year were very different from those held in the past. “I must confess that I would never imagine thousands of people’s coming together in Taksim Square without any hesitance on May Day, singing the May Day anthem together, wishing each other a happy May Day and sipping their tea in a nearby coffeehouse at the end of the celebrations.

Saturday showed that if no obstacles are erected and if tension is not deliberately raised, the laborers of this country and the supporters of labor can celebrate May Day in an environment of peace. Although this has happened for the first time in 32 years, the celebration of this day in a normal way makes one happy,” he says.

Terming the peaceful May Day celebrations in Taksim a “historic” event, Sabah’s Mahmut Övür says another taboo has been broken in Turkey through allowing workers to celebrate this day in Taksim.

Recalling May Day being treated as a “day of fear” by former governments because of shadows cast by the provocations of antidemocratic circles, Övür says the trial of Ergenekon, a shadowy crime network that has alleged links within the state and is suspected of plotting to topple the government, is a turning point as the state has begun to confront the criminal gangs nested within itself. “That is the reason why the dark power centers cannot carry out massacres as easily as in the past.

It could be said that if this trial into Ergenekon had not been launched, Taksim could not easily have been opened to thousands today,” suggests Övür.

Radikal’s Oral Çalışlar also thinks that Turkey’s efforts at democratization and the revelation of antidemocratic plots and their perpetrators played big role in the peaceful celebration of May Day this year. “The blow dealt to antidemocratic circles in Turkey is very crucial in celebrating May Day peacefully today,” he says.

NOTE: Berk Çektir is a licensed attorney at law and available to answer questions on the legal aspects of living in Turkey. Send enquiries to b.cektir@todayszaman.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .. You can read more at Todays Zaman always.