Turkish police detained 77 people who defied a ban to mark May Day at Istanbul’s Taksim Square, the traditional protest site that still remains contentious four decades after dozens of leftists were killed there during May Day celebrations.
Authorities deployed more than 26,000 police officers around the city, cordoned off Taksim Square with metal barricades and suspended public transit and traffic on roads leading to the key transport hub to prevent marchers from reaching the space. Helicopters patrolled the skies above the square.
