Parliament readies May 1 holiday vote

An amendment declaring May Day an official holiday was endorsed in the Interior Commission’s parliamentary meeting yesterday, with Parliament expected to pass the amendment next week. If the amendment passes, the number of national holidays will increase to 14.5 days. The ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, and the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, also called for an inquiry into the bloody incidents that took place during May Day celebrations in 1977. The incident is called "Bloody May 1" by Ergenekon prosecutors.

Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Labor Minister Faruk Çelik said May Day should not be a day of conflict. "It would enrich our democracy to celebrate May Days with the participation of all," Çelik said.

He said all countries, including the United States, Germany and France, have faced unpleasant incidents in the fight for rights and that such incidents further strengthened the spirit of solidarity among the laborers of the world. May Day was first celebrated in 1906, but the celebrations turned bloody in 1977, according to Çelik. The right to celebrate May 1 was stripped with the 1980 military coup. "We have turned May Day from a day of horror into a day of solidarity for laborers," he noted.

Inquiry into 1977 incidents
Meanwhile, CHP İzmir deputy Bülent Baratalı called for the inclusion of the 1977 incidents in the ongoing Ergenekon investigation. AKP Çorum deputy Agah Kafkas also called on the judiciary to launch an inquiry into the 1977 events, in which 36 people were killed in Taksim Square.

Meanwhile, the CHP maintained that May Day celebrations should be held in Taksim Square. The Democratic Society Party, or DTP, Muş deputy Nuri Yaman said the Istanbul governorship could remove the barriers before holding the celebrations in Taksim. Yaman’s remarks that Nevruz, a festival that marks the first day of spring, should also be an official holiday, especially in Kurdish areas, drew a reaction from the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP.

The AKP’s Kafkas said Taksim was not a sacred place, while Ufuk Uras of the Freedom and Solidarity Party, or ÖDP, said May Day should be celebrated like a carnival.

In response to criticism by opposition deputies, Çelik said the parties should adopt a common approach if a step is to be taken to investigate the 1977 incidents.

Çelik also said the ministry has come up with a new package to minimize the effects of the global financial crisis on unemployment in Turkey. The ministry will make a presentation on the issue in Parliament next week.