Police and May Day demonstrators have clashed in Istanbul as crowds determined to defy a government ban tried to march to the city's iconic Taksim Square, the Associated Press reports.

Security forces pushed back demonstrators with water cannon and tear gas. Protesters retaliated by throwing stones and hurling firecrackers at police.

Authorities have blocked the square that is symbolic as the center of protests in which 34 people were killed in 1977.

Turkish news wires say that 10,000 police officers were stationed around the square Friday with water cannons to block the protesters.

The demonstrations are the first large-scale protests since the government passed a security bill this year giving police expanded powers to crack down on protesters.