CHP remains determined for Taksim march: 'A trauma for the AKP government...'

Republican People's Party Spokesperson Deniz Yücel held a press conference at the CHP Headquarters.

Deniz Yücel, regarding the May 1st march to Taksim, stated: "We see that the 'Taksim Square allergy' of the AKP government, which once boasted by saying 'We opened Taksim to May 1st celebrations,' continues."

"YOU WOULD THINK THEY ARE SWORN TO OVERTHROW THE AKP GOVERNMENT"

Yücel noted the following:

"We are not giving up on Taksim... Our Chairman, Mr. Özgür Özel, called the Minister of Interior and asked for the Taksim decision to be reviewed. He said, 'As a party, we provide a guarantee; it will pass without any problems.' Well, while we provide this assurance, why can the highest-ranking name in the domestic security organization not provide this assurance?

We see that the 'Taksim Square allergy' of the AKP government, which once boasted by saying 'We opened Taksim to May 1st celebrations,' continues. Taksim Square is a trauma for the AKP government... Whenever a group exercises its right to assembly and demonstration in Taksim Square, they see it as an attack on their own integrity. You would think that everyone who gathers in Taksim Square is sworn to overthrow the AKP government... Yet, Taksim Square is a place where everyone seeking their rights can go to seek them whenever they want, and the AKP is the government that is obligated to ensure the safety of those seeking their rights.

"DO NOT BE AFRAID TO OPEN IT TO MAY 1ST"

But how? Not by using force against those exercising their democratic rights with police, gendarmerie, water cannons, and pressurized water; but by making Taksim Square suitable for groups exercising their right to assembly and demonstration... As the leading party of the March 31 local elections, our open call is: As our Chairman also said, 'Do not leave the hands of the laborers hanging in the air.' Do not be afraid to open Taksim Square to May 1st!"