May 1st Declared Holiday
May 1st, Workers' Day declared holiday by the parliament. It's dubbed "Labor and Solidarity Day"
Republican People's Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) introduced a motion to exempt public workers from this holiday just for this year; on grounds that only eight days are left to May 1st and this could cause problems in administrative procedures.
CHP, Democratic Left Party (DSP) and Democratic Society Party (DTP) MPs emphasized that May 1st holiday is a right rather than a grant by the government and workers' struggled for years to gain this right.
On the other hand, ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) members objected to celebrations in Taksim Square in Istanbul. Opposition MPs demanded that workers should be allowed to organize a meeting at the square but Labor Minister Faruk Çelik disregarded their points. Çelik noted that May 1st is a holiday in 148 countries.
DSP MP Ayşe Jale Ağırbaş said the decision to allow meetings in Taksim shouldn't be left to the bureaucracy and that "the government should declare its stance clearly." Yet, Çelik claimed its up to the Istanbul Governor to decide on the issue; the government doesn't have the authority. Minister of Interior Beşir Atalay was absent at the parliamentary assembly.
Moreover, AKP Manisa MP Hüseyin Tanrıverdi argued that there're bigger squares in Istanbul for such meetings and Taksim isn't suitable. Nevertheless, none of the AKP members could explain how others such as the police department can hold celebrations at Taksim.
CHP MP Ali Arslan said that Taksim should be renamed "May 1st Square", in honor of those killed during the 1977 celebrations when unidentified gunmen opened fire on the crowd.(TK/AGÜ)