Mayday, the International Day of Union, Solidarity and Struggle, was celebrated in whole Turkey and Northern Kurdistan with enthusiasm. While in Izmir 50,000 people joined the celebrations, thousands of other people celebrated Mayday in other cities. Like in the last years, Istanbul was the city being the centre of the Mayday celebrations. In Istanbul, the workers, labourers and socialists managed to get to Taxim Square, the place which had been forbidden for them for 32 years. {divide}
The worker unions, mass organisations and revolutionary forces, that wanted to commemorate the 37 workers who had been killed on Mayday 1977 at Taxim Square by the state and that wanted to loudly mention the demands of the working class, had said before that they were going to celebrate Mayday at Taxim Square insisting on this decision. Istanbul governor and police chief both had said instead that Taxim Square was forbidden for any celebrations of workers, but that only the unions leaders would be allowed to leave a wreath at Taxim Square and make a commemoration there. They had also said that first of all the revolutionary forces, and in general all workers and labourers would not be allowed to celebrate Mayday at Taxim in masses. The struggle of will between the state and the unions and revolutionary forces ended with the success to celebrate Mayday at Taxim Square. While DISK , KESK , TTB , TMMOB and some revolutionary, progressive organisations, among them the ESP , too, managed to overcome the police barricades and get through to Taxim Square, thousands of people were hindered and for this clashed with the police. The revolutionary and progressive forces as well as the workers and labourers resisted against the police attacking them with gas bombs, truncheons and plastic bullets and defended themselves by throwing Molotov cocktails, slingshots and stones and tried to get through to

Taxim Square. As a result of the clashes, which lasted the whole day, more than 400 people were arrested and 50 were injured. The workers, labourers and revolutionaries conquering Taxim Square were shouting the slogans "This is Taxim, this is Mayday" and "Long live Mayday"  and sang the Mayday march celebrating their victory. At the Mayday celebrations it was stressed that is not the workers and labourers being responsible for the current economic crisis and that for this, it is not them going to pay the bill of this crisis. At the Mayday celebrations in Kurdistan, the oppression on the DTP was protested, too. MLCP and KGO militia with their banners and slogans were in the first ranks clashing with the police at Taxim Square. The militia tried to destroy the barricades and wrote slogans on the walls at the streets where they clashed saluting the resistance for Taxim Square.
Turk-Is , that is in favour of the government, changed its decision to celebrate Mayday at Taxim Square and celebrated instead at Kadikoy with the permission of the governor. Reformist parties such as EMEP and some other parties and organisations that did not want to clash with the police went to Kadikoy together with Turk-Is.