Tens of thousands of workers, students and civil society members gathered in İstanbul’s Kadıköy district on May Day to commemorate International Workers’ Day with calls for fair wages, democratic rights and an end to economic injustice.
The rally, held at Rıhtım Square despite rainy weather, was organised by leading labour and professional bodies, including the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions (DİSK), the Confederation of Public Employees’ Trade Unions (KESK), the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB), and the Turkish Medical Association (TTB).
Under the slogan “We will win with labour, peace, democracy and justice,” demonstrators marched in unity, chanting against poverty and government economic policies. Speakers on stage highlighted inflation, unemployment and suppression of labour rights as central grievances.
A speaker from the student movement said young people faced increasing precarity, stating that “dreams once built in university classrooms have been replaced by hunger.” He called for the release of students detained during protests following the arrest of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, and pledged continued resistance.
Workers affected by public-sector dismissals also addressed the crowd. A former municipal worker, dismissed by a government-appointed trustee (known as a kayyum), stated: “I am a woman, a worker, a resister. They fired me because I joined a union. But we will not give up our labour or our rights.”
Women’s organisations emphasised the connection between gender inequality and economic hardship. Hatice Yayla, speaking on behalf of feminist groups, denounced unpaid care work, wage inequality and rising femicide, declaring, “We are here not only to defend our labour, but also our right to live freely.”
The gathering featured banners reading “Equal pay for equal work,” “Stop the war economy,” and “You cannot silence the youth,” while protest songs and Kurdish slogans such as “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî” (Woman, Life, Freedom) echoed throughout the square.
In a joint statement read by representatives of İstanbul’s Labour, Peace and Democracy Forces, organisers said: “A democratic society is only possible through the united struggle of workers and all oppressed peoples.” They called for general strike readiness and increased resistance to policies that, they claimed, deepen inequality and limit freedoms.
The event in İstanbul was part of a nationwide wave of May Day demonstrations, with similar rallies in cities such as Ankara and İzmir. All were marked by criticism of economic conditions, trade union restrictions and the shrinking space for democratic expression in Turkey.
