Istanbul, May 2 (RHC)-- Hundreds of thousands of workers in countries around the world engaged in clashes with riot police on Monday as they marked International Workers’ Day.  

In Istanbul, Turkey’s most populous city, May Day demonstrations turned violent as a number of activist groups that had attempted to reach the cordoned-off area of central Taksim Square faced police's tear gas and rubber bullets.  Some protesters hurled Molotov cocktails and fireworks at the police forces, who detained over 200 protesters. 

Some 10,000 demonstrators in the Greek capital of Athens took to the streets and another 3,500 rallied in Thessaloniki, the country's second largest city, on Monday to mark International Workers' Day.  Trade unions had earlier said that they would mark the occasion with a 24-hour nationwide strike to express their dissent with the looming austerity measures to be applied by the government, as demanded by country's creditors in exchange for bailout cash. 

Thousands of people held a massive rally in central Paris to mark May Day on Monday.  Although the demonstration was largely peaceful, dozens of masked protesters clashed with French police along the route.  Reports say that at least three police officers sustained injuries in the clashes. 

In the Philippines' capital city of Manila, hundreds of activists clashed with riot police as they tried to force their way to the U.S. embassy as part of their May Day demonstrations on Monday.