Europe News

Angry May Day protests go ahead in Ankara, Moscow, Paris

May 1, 2008, 15:21 GMT

Thousands demonstrated around Europe Thursday in traditional May Day labour demonstrations on issues ranging from pension reforms to standards of living. A Turkish police water cannon spray water dye at protestors during the Workers Day celebration in Istanbul, Turkey on 01 May 2008. Turkish government denied permission to union confederations to gather at Taksim Square which is the main downtown square of the city. EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU

A Turkish police water cannon spray water dye at protestors during the Workers Day celebration in Istanbul, Turkey on 01 May 2008. Turkish government denied permission to union confederations to gather at Taksim Square which is the main downtown square of the city. EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLUTurkish riot police clashed with demonstrators attempting to take part in May Day marches in Istanbul on with some 467 protesters taken into custody and dozens of people treated at hospitals for the effects of tear gas. In a series of clashes that began early on Thursday morning and continued until the afternoon, police moved in to disperse various groups who were attempting to march to Taksim Square in the heart of Istanbul, where May Day celebrations in 1977 ended with the shooting of 36 unionists. Authorities in Istanbul had refused to give permission for a march to Taksim Square, instead only allowing union leaders to leave flowers at a memorial in the square. Union confederation leaders instead decided not to take up the offer. Television footage of the clashes showed baton-wielding police attempting to disperse demonstrators by using water cannon and tear gas. In Russia, 10,000 people took part in May Day demonstrations against the rising cost of living and demanded wage increases Thursday. In the western Siberian city of Chelyabinsk, union leaders criticized the fact that wages were rising too slowly despite strong economic growth. According to police, some 7,000 people took part in a rally in the Revolution Square in Chelyabinsk, where speakers at the rally stressed that, despite economic growth, the incomes of a major part of the population were growing too slowly. Prices of essentials, tariffs, the value of services in the housing and communal economy, as well as transport fees, continue to grow, leading to a growth in social tension, the speakers said. According to the Itar Tass news agency, participants in the rally adopted a resolution, demanding that the Russian and regional leaders take measures for curbing the growth of prices, establish state regulation of prices of socially important foodstuffs and other products. In Moscow, amidst strict security, 30,000 people took part in various protests around the city. Communist party leader Gennady Zjuganov, addressing a crowd of around 4,000, demanded an increase in the minimum pension. Many Muscovites complained about the strong police presence and the use of metal detectors and barricades in the city centre. According to official reports, a 320,000-strong force of army and police were on duty throughout the country. Meanwhile in France thousands of demonstrators took part in May Day protests against the reforms of President Nicolas Sarkozy. In Paris, the two large French trade unions, CGT and CFDT, held a joint protest for the first time in four years. Several thousand took part in a march which arrived at the Place de La Republique in central Paris in the afternoon. The protests were directed against the planned pensions reform and the cost of living. In the southern city of Marseille, police said that there were 3,000 taking part in protests, but the unions claimed that 30,000 had taken to the streets. Demonstrations were also held in numerous other French cities such as Nice, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Grenoble and Lille. There were no reports of trouble. The traditional May Day protest of the far-right National Front Party led by Jean-Marie le Pen was attended by 1,000 people. In the Serbian capital Belgrade some 10,000 people marched in a call for better living standards in the economically struggling Balkan nation. Representatives of the Workers' Union pointed to the 'long, painful transition and privatization in Serbia' and said workers' rights had never been more under threat. In Greece public transport services, and ships and flights by the state carrier Olympic Airlines were paralysed across the country as unions planned demonstrations in the capital Athens to coincide with Labour Day. Thousands of tourists were left stranded as Athenstram, trolleys and all buses, including those to and from Athens International Airport, stopped running while workers at the city's metro said they would hold work stoppages. Dozens of domestic and international flights on Olympic Airlines were cancelled as were all ferry services to and from the Greek islands. Greece's labour unions are angered by the conservative government's attempts to reform pensions. In the German city of Hamburg riot police were on alert as hundreds of far-right demonstrators gathered for a demonstration expected to face violent opposition from leftists. Police predicted about 700 rightists would take part in a daytime rally by the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) in a working- class district of the city. Police estimated 5,000 anti-NPD demonstrators had arrived at the scene by noon to express their disapproval of the march. In the southern city of Nuremberg, 3,000 riot police were on duty to separate the political opponents during another NPD march.