Sabre-swinging mounted police surrounded by protesters, Taksim Square 1933

A group of mounted police officers is surrounded by a crowd of protesting young men on Taksim Square. One of the officers has raised his sabre and is moving towards a protester. In the background, the picture is framed by a wall and trees. More spectators and protesters are standing in a line in front of the wall.Some of the protesters are backing down, shrugging their shoulders. The policemen are trying to control the situation despite their obviously nervous horses. The picture was taken during the so-called ‘Wagon-Lits incident’ (vagon-li olayı) on 25 February 1933. This first large-scale student protest of the 1930s was sparked when newspapers reported that an employee called Naci Bey had been fined and dismissed from work for speaking Turkish (and not French) on the telephone during business hours