Turkish police, May Day protesters clash in central Istanbul
An injured journalist is filmed and helped by his colleagues during clashes between riot police and May Day protesters in central Istanbul May 1, 2013. REUTERS/Murad Sezer
ISTANBUL | Wed May 1, 2013 5:48am EDT
(Reuters) - Turkish riot police clashed with thousands of May Day protesters in Istanbul on Wednesday, firing water cannon and tear gas at crowds that tried to break through barricades to reach the city's main square, witnesses said.
A Reuters photographer said at least six people were injured in the clashes, which broke out after thousands of police were stationed to block access to Taksim Square, earlier placed off limits by authorities to a march organized by trade unions.
Security was tightened around the office of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in the district of Besiktas a short way from Taksim, where the heaviest clashes took place, the Reuters photographer said.
The incidents followed the pattern of recent years, when May Day demonstrations in Turkey's largest city have often been marked by clashes between police and protesters.
Authorities often use force to prevent the rally happening in the center of the city, having this year already denied large trade unions permission to march on Taksim, saying major construction work there would make it too dangerous.
Members of Turkey's main opposition party were among Wednesday's demonstrators, the Reuters witness said.
Two officers were wounded by stones and metal objects thrown at police lines, state-run TRT television said, citing the Istanbul governor's office.
Major roads, bridges and bus routes were closed for several kilometers around the square, with some subway stations also being shut off to the public in an attempt to keep people away.
A main highway usually clogged with traffic along the shore of Istanbul's Bosphorus was taken over by strolling tourists and the occasional jogger.
May 1, a traditional workers' day holiday across most of Europe, was canceled as a national holiday in Turkey following a 1980 coup, but was reinstated in 2010 under pressure from trade unions.
(Reporting by Murad Sezer and Nick Tattersall; Writing by Jonathon Burch and John Stonestreet; Editing by Jon Hemming)
