Why turks protesting

In the capital, Berlin, thousands of police were deployed to monitor multiple demonstrations, including one organised by a group that opposes the government's coronavirus strategy. An estimated 10, cyclists staged a peaceful anti-capitalist protest in the city.

But as darkness fell, the mood grew more tense as protesters set barricades alight and confronted police who were trying to enforce Covid regulations at a left-wing demonstration. At one rally, protesters in the capital of Jakarta laid mock graves on the street to symbolise the human toll of the pandemic. Labour Day celebrations were unusually muted in Cuba, where workers gather for large events to commemorate the communist revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power in But for the second year running, Cuba called off its May Day march though Havana's Plaza de la Revolution Square, as the country battles Covid and an economic crisis.

Instead, a small number of national leaders gathered at largely empty public spaces, while citizens were urged to celebrate at home. In Brussels, Belgium's capital, officers trying to clear a dance rave from a park used water cannon, pepper spray and batons as some of the partygoers pelted them with eggs. During the commotion, one demonstrator was knocked unconscious after they were struck by a water cannon truck, local media said.

Dubbed La Boum 2 The Party 2 , the event was a sequel to a fake concert that drew thousands of people after it was announced on social media as an April Fools' Day joke. Meanwhile, a proposed law that would give police extra powers to curb protests was one of the main subjects of grievance at protests in the UK.

Hundreds gathered in London to protest against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts bill, which activists fear would be used to curb dissent. All photographs subject to copyright. In pictures: May Day protests around the world. Four-day week: 'I don't waste holidays on chores'. Amazon worker fight: 'You're a cog in the system'.

Image source, Reuters. Protesters skirmished with riot police during a May Day protest in Istanbul, Turkey. Image source, EPA. German riot police stepped in to break up rallies in Berlin that were deemed to be in breach of Covid restrictions. The fourth-year graphic design university student and dozens of other students have been sleeping in the streets for four nights, part of a national protest movement against what they say is an unbearable rent crisis in Turkey.

But the student protests, happening nightly in dozens of cities across Turkey, are a sign of a growing cost of living crisis. Inflation has kept climbing this year, and now even basic needs like housing are being priced out of reach for many. With no space in state-run student dormitories, Dogan says he has no place to live if he wants to return to university as face-to-face classes begin in October for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

Responding to the criticism over rising prices and protests by university students, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters last week his government was taking action against price gouging, and had built a significant number of dormitories and increased scholarships for students. Such dormitories did not exist before us. While the protests in Istanbul have been met with sympathy — local restaurants have provided dinner and tea — in other parts of the country, students have faced police action and scepticism from authorities.

Earlier this week, nine students were detained in the capital Ankara. On Wednesday night, police detained six more from a park in the city of Eskisehir, and in four other cities, they intervened to force the camping students to disperse.

If this was not a serious problem would we be protesting out here, sleeping in the streets? We are human beings, we have a right to housing. For many of the protesting students, unaffordable housing has been the latest in a string of economic troubles their families have dealt with in recent years. Now the situation is serious enough that we have ended up in the streets to have our problems addressed.

Tensions have flared recently with the arrival of thousands of Afghans fleeing a rapidly escalating war in their country. The United Nations estimates that Turkey currently hosts the largest number of refugees worldwide, including more than three million Syrians. Wednesday's attacks in the Altindag neighbourhood came after year-old Emirhan Yalcin was killed in a fight between Syrian refugees and locals in the same area earlier in the day. Prosecutors said an investigation was launched and two people were arrested.

After reports about the incident spread, hundreds of protesters flooded the streets of Altindag. The independent Duvar news website said crowds chanting anti-Syrian slogans were seen in videos attacking businesses and homes belonging to Syrians. Riot police were deployed to the area to quell the violence. Turkish reports say police evacuated some Syrians from the neighbourhood by buses. Late on Wednesday night, the Ankara Governor's Office said the violent protests had ended with "intense efforts of the police force".