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No foreign spies in bloody Taksim event, MÄ°T says

15 January 2013 23:58 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The National Intelligence Organization (MÄ°T) denied claims of the presence of foreign spies during a violent demonstration that claimed the lives of 34 protesters at Taksim Square on May 1, 1977, in a defense statement submitted by the institution to an Ankara court as part a probe into the Sept. 12, 1980 military coup, APA reports quoting Todays Zaman.

In response to the Ankara 12th High Criminal Court with regard to a number of violent events that took place in the late 1970s and that paved the way for a military coup in a bid to restore order and security in the country in 1980, MÄ°T said there is no information in its archive addressing the presence of foreign spies, who were suspiciously believed to have been stationed in Hotel InterContinental during a demonstration in Taksim that turned deadly.

More than 30 people were killed during the protest in Taksim Square, where nearly half a million people had gathered. The rally was joined mostly by left-wing groups in order to mark May 1, celebrated as Labor Day in Turkey and around the world, and also to protest the socioeconomic and political conditions in the country.

Soon thereafter, clashes erupted between the police and demonstrators, and a number of unidentified perpetrators opened fire on the public.

At least 34 people were crushed to death in a stampede that broke out following sounds of gunfire. Some witnesses claimed that gunmen wearing masks in the hotel opened fire on the people, but this claim has never been verified.

MÄ°T also answered questions put forth by the court with regard to the assassination of a politician in the same period. Gün Sazak, a former Nationalist Movement Party (MÄ°T) deputy chairman and minister, was killed in the late 1970s.

MÄ°T said it had no information prior to the assassination and that the documents it has about the event only cover the testimonies of suspects who were captured by the police days after the politician’s murder.