100s Arrested as Major Turkish Unions Go on Strike

Hundreds of antigovernment protesters were reportedly arrested in Turkey as two major trade unions went on a nationwide strike.

According to the Ankara and Istanbul bar associations, some 600 people were detained on Sunday as part of a crackdown on protests that have gripped the country for about three weeks.

Riot police were still firing volleys of tear gas and water at pockets of demonstrators in Istanbul and the capital Ankara early on Monday.

Meanwhile, the country’s KESK and DISK trade unions, which together represent hundreds of thousands of workers, called a one-day stoppage to object to the police violence against demonstrations and said they planned to hold demos in the late afternoon.

“Our demand is for police violence to end immediately,” KESK spokesman Baki Cinar told AFP, adding that the unions would be joined by striking engineers, dentists and doctors.

Turkish Interior Minister Muammer Guler condemned the walkout as “illegal” and warned strikers not to take to the streets, as the government battled to clamp down on nearly three weeks of nationwide civil protests.

Demonstrations against the Gezi Park plan erupted in Istanbul’s Taksim Square over two weeks ago, and soon spread nationwide and turned into antigovernment protests.

Turkish police fired tear gas and water cannon to prevent hundreds of protesters reaching the central Taksim Square, scene of violent protests in which hundreds were wounded.

Antigovernment demonstrators wearing handkerchiefs and surgical masks chanted “unite against fascism” and “government resign” as they tried to walk down the street to Taksim, a witness said.

It later spread to 67 cities across the country and turned into clashes between protesters and the police, which have left four people dead, over 7,500 wounded and thousands detained thus far.

The protesters vowed to go ahead with their “struggle” until their demands are met by the government through tangible steps.