HDP İstanbul provincial chairman Ferhat Encü, and district co-chairs Cengiz Çiçek and Esengül Demir, are among those who were taken into to custody in Taksim in Beyoğlu district, according to Artı Gerçek.
The detainees are accused of violating a ban on gatherings and protests by the Beyoğlu municipality, it said.
Police intervened when members from İstanbul provincial branches of the HDP and the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK) gathered to release a press statement in memory of those who were killed in Taksim Square on Labour Day in 1977, Artı Gerçek said.
A total of 34 people were killed during a May Day protest in Istanbul’s Taksim Square in 1977, when unknown demonstrators fired shots into the air, sparking panic.
Turkish police regularly prevent the staging of protests in central Istanbul and elsewhere. May Day protests in the country have in the past been characterized by police action against demonstrators.
HDP lawmaker Züleyha Gülüm called the detentions an attempt at intimidating the masses ahead of May Day, Artı Gerçek said.