On the 6th congress of the confederation that was held on 22–26 December 1977 Abdullah Baştürk was elected as the head of DİSK. Fehmi Işıklar became the secretary general. In 1978 DİSK organized a First of May rally again in Taksim Square and there was a large participation in spite of the bloody events of the previous year. By 1979 martial law had expanded to cover also Istanbul, and the First of May celebrations were held in Izmir, while in 1980 the celebrations were totally banned.