Turkish police have fired teargas and water cannon at hundreds of stone-throwing May Day protesters in Istanbul, after they defied a ban and tried to march on Taksim Square.  Europe’s biggest city was under a security lockdown on Friday, as thousands of police manned barricades and closed streets to halt demonstrations at Taksim, a traditional rallying ground for leftists that saw weeks of unrest in 2013.  Related: Femen activists disrupt May Day speech by Marine Le Pen  Riot police unleashed water cannon and chased protesters down side streets in the nearby Beşiktaş neighbourhood, where they fired canisters of teargas, according to a Reuters reporter at the scene.  Police said that nearly 140 people had been detained, although activists said the number was nearly double that. By the afternoon most of the protests had been broken up and demonstrators drifted away.  Citing security concerns, much of Istanbul’s public transport had been shut down and police helicopters circled over the city. Tens of thousands also gathered to march in the capital, Ankara, where the mood was more festive, with dancing and singing.  Critics say President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his government have become more authoritarian in the buildup to elections in June. “People want to express their problems but the government doesn’t want those problems to be heard ahead of elections,” opposition politician Mahmut Tanal told Reuters.  The normally busy Istiklal shopping avenue leading to Taksim was deserted, with shops closed and metal barricades blocking side streets. Police helicopters circled overhead.  Taksim, a usually bustling square lined with cafes and hotels, was filled with police buses, ambulances and satellite broadcast trucks. A pair of tourists emerged from a hotel to find the area sealed off as they nervously made their way around police lines.  Related: Workers rally on May Day around the world – in pictures  The government had said Taksim would be open only to those who came peacefully and not for “illegal demonstrations”. “I wish May 1 to be celebrated in a festive mood without provocations,” Erdoğan said. Opposition parties and unions called on the government to lift the ban.  Erdoğan has previously dismissed protesters as “riff-raff” and terrorists, outraged by the unrest in 2013 that brought unwanted international attention and posed the biggest challenge to his AK party since it came to power in 2002.  He is aiming for a massive victory for the party in the forthcoming parliamentary polls, which would allow it to change the constitution and give him broad presidential powers.  The 2013 Taksim protests began as a peaceful demonstration against plans to redevelop Gezi Park, a leafy corner of the square. After a police crackdown, the demonstration spiralled into weeks of nationwide protests against Erdoğan’s rule.  The May Day demonstrations are the first large-scale protests since the government passed a security bill this year giving police expanded powers to crack down on protesters.
Riot police use water cannon and teargas to push back activists from Taksim Square during first major protests since government passed security bill