Turkish Police Detain About 15 More People In Attempt To Stage Illegal Demonstration In Istanbul

ISTANBUL - Turkish police detained on Saturday about 15 more people who attempted to stage an illegal demonstration at Taksim Square in Istanbul on May Day.
Police warned the group, who opened banners, to disperse. Police detained about 15 people when they wanted to release a press statement.
Earlier in the day, Turkish police detained about 20 people who also attempted to stage an illegal demonstration at Taksim Square. Police stopped and detained a group comprised of about 20 people who started to distribute statements in Turkish and Kurdish, wanted to walk towards Republican Monument chanting slogans and resisted to security forces.
Turkish security forces have tightened measures at and around Taksim Square to prevent occurrence of any unfavorable incidents during May Day celebrations.
(GC-BRC) 01.05.2004