News Digest

Police use tear gas on May Day protesters in Istanbul, Turkey

Turkish police on Friday used water cannon and tear gas to disperse May Day protesters in Istanbul as tens of thousands of labour activists turned out worldwide to defend their rights at a time of austerity. As Turkish police and protesters engaged in pitched battles in some districts of Istanbul, the Italian city of Milan also saw violent clashes at the opening of the Expo 2015. Turkish police had blocked all vehicle access and cut public transport to prevent protests on Taksim Square in the centre of Istanbul, the traditional focus for demonstrations in the country’s largest city.

I find that this insistance on (protests in) Taksim is wrong. Having a meeting in Taksim means basically paralysing all Istanbul.

Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara

This is the first May Day in Turkey, a national holiday in the country, to be marked after parliament passed a controversial security bill this year giving the police greater powers to crack down on protests. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s administration - shaken by weeks of deadly anti-government protests in May-June 2013 centred on Taksim Square - is hugely nervous about public demonstrations ahead of June 7 legislative elections.