Turkish police target defiant protesters

A woman holds up her identity card as riot police fired a water cannon during clashes after hundreds of people tried to reach the city’s main Kizilay Square to celebrate May Day in Ankara.

DPA/Istanbul

And in the capital Ankara, police fired volleys of tear gas and jets of water on hundreds of protesters trying to march to the Kizilay Square, also declared off limits.

The demonstrators in Istanbul threw Molotov cocktails and slingshots at police, local media reported.

Some 40,000 police officers were deployed around Istanbul for the rallies, as activists pledged to defy the ban on holding protests in the city’s iconic square.

Approximately 15 police officers were deployed for each demonstrator who could be seen near the square, along with armoured vehicles and barricades.

About 50 protesters were injured in the clashes and 170 others were arrested, the bar association CHD said.

Protesters also gathered in the Besiktas neighbourhood east of Taksim, where police fired tear gas to disperse them.

“We wanted to exercise our right to free expression, but the government doesn’t allow this,” said Keman Cetter, 26.

The city was under lockdown as public transport networks were scaled back under government orders, severely limiting the movement of citizens.

An American tourist and her daughter were trying to reach the airport, walking through main roads surrounded by police, carrying their luggage, and trying to find buses or taxis.

“At the hotel they told us they were getting police to protect tourists, but now we can’t get to the airport. We can’t do anything. We are worried about making our flight,” the mother, Jen, said.

A few dozen protesters standing near Taksim Square were chased away by police.

One of the demonstrators ran toward the square and shouted: “Taksim belongs to all of us.”

He was arrested and taken away by police.

The Constitutional Court on Wednesday rejected a petition asking for unions to be allowed to stage a protest in Taksim Square.

These were the first large protests since Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) swept local elections in March, emboldening the polarising premier.

In 1977, 34 people were killed in clashes on May 1 in Taksim, giving the location symbolic importance.

The site was banned for use by labour movements for more than three decades.

It was reopened in 2010, but was blocked off again last year when the protests turned violent.