Taksim Stadium

Our national football squad played its first game on Oct. 26, 1923, exactly three days before the republic was declared. That team's coach was Ali Sami Yen, who was the founder of the Galatasaray football team. The captain of the team was a legendary player from Fenerbahçe, Hasan Kamil. 

Taksim Square and Gezi Park, in addition to numerous other roads and streets, have been closed to the public on the second anniversary of the anti-government Gezi protests which spread across Turkey in protest at decisions taken under then-PM Recep Tayyip Erdo?an's leadership. 

The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has again included a controversial construction project on the site of Gezi Park next to Taksim Square in its upcoming agenda, despite the months-long anti-government protests sparked by local opposition to the same project last year.

The Chamber of Architects and the Chamber of Urban Planners have reacted negatively to plans that would lead to Istanbul’s iconic Taksim Square being decorated with ponds, small groups of trees and benches, according to a fresh project approved by the local preservation board.

Istanbul is on alert ahead of the first anniversary of the massive Gezi protests May 31 as calls were made for street action in the flashpoint area of Taksim Square, which was the heart of last year’s demonstrations.

In its latest measure, the Istanbul police have canceled all holidays and increased the shifts of police officers to 12 hours until a second order.

Some 25,000 police officers and 50 water cannon trucks (TOMAs) have been assigned to prevent demonstrations marking the anniversary of the Gezi Park protests this weekend in Istanbul, with the city’s governor warning that no gathering will be allowed in the Taksim area.