Tens of thousands of May Day protesters have taken to the streets across Europe, clashing with police in several cities amid mounting social unrest over the global economic crisis.
Traditional Labour Day demonstrations were reported to have turned violent in Germany, Greece and Turkey, while thousands of protesters rallied in Russia, France and Spain.
In Berlin, demonstrators hurled bottles and rocks at police on Friday, injuring a number of officers, while clashes were also reported in Hamburg.
The protests were fuelled by the worsening financial crisis, especially in Germany, where the economy is expected to shrink by six per cent this year.
"No one could have imagined that this crisis could have been so profound," Michael Sommer, head of the DGB trade union federation, told a crowd in Berlin.
"There is no light at the end of the tunnel."
About 5,000 officers were on standby in the German capital, where counter-demonstrations were also expected to cause havoc.
Turkish clashes
Clashes between police and demonstrators were taking place in the Turkish city of Istanbul, with hundreds of protesters battling riot police in the streets.
Security forces fired water cannons and arrested several protesters, largely made up of union and left-wing activists.
The violence has overshadowed the landmark return of annual labour rallies to the city's central Taksim Square, where on May 1, 1977, suspected rightwing snipers killed 34 people.
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