Turkey bans May Day protest in Istanbul's main square

ISTANBUL, TURKEY (AFP) - Turkish police on Tuesday sealed off Istanbul's central Taksim Square to prevent any May Day protest when tens of thousands of police will be deployed around the city. 

High metal barriers were erected around the square, AFP journalists reported. 

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya on Monday said authorities had designated 40 areas for May Day celebrations with the exception of the emblematic Taksim Square. 

Yerlikaya said some unions had demanded use of the square, epicentre of 2013 protests against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government, but that it would not be allowed. 

"Taksim Square and its surrounding vicinity is not convenient for any rally," he said. 

Turkey's main opposition CHP party, which won a victory in the March 31 local elections, however pressed the government to open the square for labour rallies. 

CHP leader Ozgur Ozel on Monday called on the interior minister to reconsider the ban on Taksim, which has been used in the past.

"Sealing off Taksim amounts to not recognising the constitution," he said. 

The Amnesty International rights group also said the ban "is based on entirely spurious security and public order grounds" and called for it to be lifted.

Calling the square "a place of huge symbolic significance", Amnesty added that: "For more than a decade, the Turkish authorities have unlawfully restricted people’s right to assembly and criminalized peaceful protests that take place in the square."

More than 42,000 police will be on duty in the city for May 1.