Turkish Police Brace for May Day Rally(1/2)


Thousands of police have had their leave canceled, and the city governor has announced that large parts of the city will be closed down ahead of May Day celebrations.

Three of Turkey's largest trade union confederations have said they will challenge a government ban on celebrating May Day in Taksim square in the heart of Istanbul. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the unions.

Mr. Erdogan says he believes there was what he called "ill intention" behind this request. He says it is a request geared toward disrupting public order.

The prime minister says there are alternative locations in Istanbul to Taksim square to celebrate May Day. But Taksim square has major symbolic importance to trade unionists. In 1977, 37 people were killed when unknown gunmen opened fire on a crowd of hundreds of thousands of people who were celebrating May Day.

Defne Sandilci, who attended the 1977 protest, remembers the panic that erupted as the gunfire rang out.

"We saw people shouting there, I could see them quite clearly, there was a massive panic there and shouting and lots of people died,"

参考译文：

数千名警察不得不取消假期，市长宣布在劳动节庆典前，城市的大部分地区将封闭。

土耳其三大贸易工会联盟已表明他们将挑战政府禁止劳动节在伊斯坦布尔中心塔克西姆广场庆祝的禁令。总理雷杰普•塔伊普•埃尔多安指责了联盟。

埃尔多安谈到他认为这个请愿的背后是他所谓的“恶意”。他说这是一个加速破坏政府命令的请愿。
总理说他们可以选择伊斯坦布尔除塔克西姆广场之外的其他地方庆祝劳动节。但是塔克西姆广场对贸易工会成员而言有很重要的象征性。1977年，当成百上千人在庆祝劳动节时，37人死于无名持枪者们的子弹下。

Defne Sandilci参加了1977年的游行，她仍然记得由于开火导致的混乱情景。“在那里，我们听到人们大喊大叫。我可以很清楚的看到他们，那里一片混乱，呼喊声，很多人死亡"。

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