Turkish police on Friday used water cannon and tear gas to disperse May Day protesters in Istanbul as tens of thousands of labor activists turned out worldwide to defend their rights at a time of austerity.

Turkish police on Friday used water cannon and tear gas to disperse May Day protesters in Istanbul as tens of thousands of labor activists turned out worldwide to defend their rights at a time of austerity.

Turkish police had blocked all vehicle access and cut public transport to prevent protests on Taksim Square in the centre of Istanbul, the traditional focus for protests in the country's largest city.

Police moved in on the protesters close to the shores of the Bosphorus as they tried to head towards the square, using water cannon trucks and spraying tear gas, an AFP correspondent said.

Even before the police moved in on the Besiktas protesters, Istanbul's police chief Selami Altinok had said that 136 people had been arrested in various points in the city during the day.

This is the first May Day in Turkey, a national holiday in the country, to be marked after parliament passed a controversial security bill this year giving the police greater powers to crack down on protests.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's administration -- shaken by weeks of deadly anti-government protests in May-June 2013 centered on Taksim Square -- is hugely nervous about public demonstrations ahead of June 7 legislative elections.

"If find that this insisting on (protests in) Taksim is wrong and has a purpose. Having a meeting in Taksim means basically paralyzing all Istanbul," Erdogan said in a speech at his Ankara presidential palace.