Police and protesters battle in Turkey and South Korea
May Day clashes continued around the world as a tense labour day was experienced by citizens in different countries.
In Istanbul, Turkish police fired tear gas and water cannons at hundreds of stone-throwing May Day protesters after they defied a ban and tried to march on Istanbul’s Taksim Square.
The city was under a security lockdown as thousands of police manned barricades and closed streets to stop demonstrations at Taksim, a traditional rallying ground for leftists that experienced weeks of unrest in 2013.
Riot police unleashed water cannons and chased protesters down side streets in the nearby Besiktas neighbourhood, where they fired canisters of tear gas, according to a Reuters reporter at the scene.
Several people were detained after demonstrators lobbed stones and bottles at police and set off fi reworks.
Citing security concerns, much of Istanbul’s public transport had been shut down and police helicopters circled the city.
South Korean workers clashed with riot police at a May Day rally in Seoul, vowing to wage an “all-out general strike” if the gov- ernment pushes on with planned labour reforms. President Park Geun-hye’s administration is seeking to push through a reform plan it argues would introduce flexibility to a rigid labour market, by making it easier to hire and fi re.
Thousands of riot police erected barricades to block 10 000 workers from marching to the president’s office. Police fi red water cannons laced with a chemical irritant in scattered clashes with marchers who tried to force their way through barricades on the roads leading to Park’s office.
In Paris, three topless women disrupted a May Day speech by French far-right leader Marine le Pen. After her anti-EU party gained power in local and regional elections, Le Pen has sought to capitalise on discontent over socialist President Francois Hollande’s handling of the economy and rising unemployment. She took aim at Hollande and former president Nicolas Sarkozy. “They have allowed massive immigration in France. They have unpinned the Islamic fundamentalist grenade,” Le Pen said. – AFP and Reuters