Turkish police arrested over 400 people in Istanbul today, May 1. Much of Turkey's largest city was paralyzed in an attempt to prevent demonstrations on Labor Day, according to reports.

Over 50,000 police officers were deployed in a massive show of force. On Wednesday, April 30, authorities closed the metro, bus transport, and ferries in the metropolis and arrested 100 people who "planned" to protest in the central Taksim Square, where demonstrations have been banned since 2013.

This year, May 1 comes at a time when the government is embroiled in a conflict with the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) following the arrest of its presidential candidate Ekrem Imamoglu. The mayor of Istanbul is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's biggest rival.

"The number of arrests reported to us exceeds 400," said the Istanbul branch of the CHD lawyers' group.
According to local media, several thousand people took part in authorized protests organized by trade unions in the Asian part of the city. Human rights organization Amnesty International called on Turkey to lift the ban on demonstrations in Taksim.

"382 people who had gathered to organize unauthorized demonstrations were detained," local authorities said. The statement said that 52,656 police officers were deployed in the city.
"They blocked all the streets, as if a state of emergency had been declared. This shows that the government is afraid," a student named Murat, who did not want to give his surname, told AFP.

The human rights organization Amnesty International called on Turkey to lift the ban on demonstrations in Taksim.
"The restrictions on May Day celebrations in Taksim Square are based on completely unfounded security and public order concerns and... must be lifted immediately," said Dinushika Disanayake, a Europe specialist at Amnesty.
As every year, the square has been closed off with metal barriers for several days and the police presence has been stepped up. | BGNES, AFP