Turkish unions insist on May Day celebration in controversial square

Suleyman Celebi, the head of the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers’ Unions, or DISK, said in a statement that they will hold May Day celebrations in Taksim Square.Â

"Fifteen days from now workers will celebrate their festival with much revelry. Taksim Square has become identified with May Day since the 1977 massacre," said the head of the union, which has more than 400,000 members. "We are determined not to celebrate May Day at any other location in Istanbul, except Taksim," he added.

He also said the government's plans to declare May Day a public holiday was an important gain for the country’s worker; however, it was a move that came very late.Â

"The struggle for better working conditions and decent wages has become even more meaningful and that having May 1 declared a public holiday is a significant achievement. Nobody should view this move as a favor being given to the working class; it is the return of a right, which was wrongfully taken away 30 years ago."

The Turkish government banned May Day organizations in the Taksim Square after celebrations turned violent and more than 30 people were killed in 1977. In 2007, Turkish unions relaunched an initiative to overturn the ban on the 30th anniversary of the so-called "Bloody May 1". The ban however remains in place.

May Day celebrations brought Turkish unions and the government to loggerheads in 2007 and 2008 and thousands of demonstrators were taken into custody.

The Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions, Turk-Is, and the Confederation of Public Sector Unions, KESK, have also expressed their desire to celebrate May 1, 2009 in the square.Â

Earlier in April, Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler said the municipality was willing to open for celebrations any other square in the country's largest city, saying that Taksim was not suitable for mass demonstrations.

The DISK said in a written statement on Tuesday that "as long as the ban on Taksim continues, May 1, the day of the international symbol for the struggle for eight-hour workdays, improvement of work conditions and the promise of living wages, will be reduced to just the cheer of a holiday."

"We invite the political administration and the Istanbul Governorship to do their jobs for the celebration of this day in a way that is worthy of the laborers, to act as emancipators of a bright future for our country, not with a prohibitive understanding or being obstinate," it added.