Some 4,000 members of Israeli socialist youth groups turned out in Tel Aviv on Tuesday for a march to mark May Day. The marchers set off from Rabin Square for the plaza outside Tel Aviv Museum.

Another rally to mark the day was held at the Cinematheque in Tel Aviv, where musicians and members of social action groups gathered.

Czech police in the Moravian city of Brno used teargas and bats Tuesday broke up one of the biggest neo-Nazi rallies in the country so far, Czech news agency CTK reported.

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Some 600 people had gathered for what was an authorized May Day event. But Brno authorities banned the gathering after unconstitutional symbols had been displayed, reports said.

When right-wing radicals began to throw stones and bottles, police broke up the crowd by force.

Meanwhile in Prague, a number of people were arrested during brawls between members of right and left-wing groups on the fringes of a May Day rally, reports said.

In Istanbul, Turkish riot police charged into crowds of leftist protesters marking the 30th anniversary of a deadly May Day rally, spraying tear gas and kicking and clubbing fleeing demonstrators. Hundreds were arrested.

Some 580 demonstrators - some carrying pistols, firebombs and knives - were detained, Gov. Muammer Guler said

It was the first time the government had allowed May Day protesters onto Taksim Square since a 1980 military coup - a move of significant symbolic importance for the country's leftist movement.