Supreme Court finds violation in preventing May Day celebrations in Taksim Square
The Constitutional Court ruled that the decisions preventing May Day celebrations in Taksim Square in 2014 and 2015 violated the right to organize meetings and demonstrations.
A symbolic compensation of 18,000 lira each will be paid to the applicants, including the Confederation of Progressive Workers' Unions (DİSK), then President of DİSK Kani Beko, the current President Arzu Çerkezoğlu, and the Confederation of Public Employees' Unions (KESK) along with the then President of Kesk Lami Özgen.
Taksim Square Massacre on May Day in 1977
In the court's decision, it was stated that "Taksim holds a symbolic value for certain segments of society, especially unions and workers, due to the events in 1977 that resulted in the death of 34 people."
There has been a deadly attack using firearms shot from tops of the surrounding buildings on the demonstrators on 1 May 1977 in Taksim Square, İstanbul. Casualty figures vary between 34 and 42 persons killed and 126 and 220 injured. None of the perpetrators were caught. The massacre was part of the wave of political violence in Turkey in the late 1970s.
Previous decisions
The Constitutional Court had previously ruled that the right to "assembly and demonstration" was violated in connection with the police attack against those who wanted to march from Şişli Pangaltı to Taksim Square on May 1, 2009.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) had also ruled that Turkey violated Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which regulates freedom of assembly, in the application related to the attack on the May 1, 2007, demonstration in Taksim by DİSK.
The ECHR issued its second decision on the matter regarding the intervention in 2008. Concluding the second case opened with the application of DİSK and TTB, the ECHR found Turkey guilty of police violence on May 1, 2008, in Taksim Square, and sentenced it to compensation.
"Reasoning for prohibition insufficient and unacceptable"
In its decision, the Constitutional Court recalled that the applicant unions and associations had notified the Governorship of their intention to organize May Day celebrations in Taksim Square. However, the Governorship rejected this request, citing concerns about Taksim Square not being one of the designated areas for May Day events and potential disruption of public order.
In the recent decision of the Constitutional Court, it was reminded that May 1st was declared a day of solidarity by legal regulation in 2009 and celebrated in Taksim in the years 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012, and there was no intervention in these demonstrations.
The Constitutional Court stated in its decision that the reasoning claiming "Taksim Square is not one of the designated meeting areas determined by the authorities" is considered insufficient and unacceptable to completely prohibit gatherings in the chosen location. (AS/PE)