The controversial demolition of a former Armenian orphanage in Istanbul has been halted after a public outcry and protests from activists, reports said Thursday.

Bulldozers on Wednesday started to raze Kamp Armen, a former summer camp in Istanbul's Tuzla district, in order to build a luxury apartment complex.

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 center of Istanbul, the traditional focus for protests in the country's largest city.

Turkey braced Thursday for a tense Labor Day, with the authorities banning May 1 demonstrations on the iconic Taksim Square in Istanbul and the prime minister warning any disorder would not be tolerated.

Labor Day has seen recurring clashes in the last years between the security forces and leftist protesters.

The maverick mayor of Ankara, a close ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Wednesday fired off an extraordinary anti-U.S. diatribe on Twitter over the Baltimore rioting, telling the U.S. State Department spokeswoman to "come on blonde answer now."

"Come on blonde, answer now!" Melih Gokcek wrote in English as well as Turkish, sharing an image from the riots in Baltimore with a picture of U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday lashed out at the European Union and world leaders who have recognized the 1915 massacres of Armenians as genocide on the centenary of the events. 

Erdogan accused the leaders of France, Germany and Russia of "supporting claims based on Armenian lies" after they described the slaughter of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman forces as genocide -- which Turkey strongly objects to. 

A Turkish Airlines passenger plane flying from Istanbul to Basel turned back over Bulgarian air space Friday after a bomb alert that later turned out to be false, the airline said.

The airline said the plane returned to Istanbul airport as a precautionary measure after the alert and underwent an investigation after all the passengers were taken off.

Yasmin Rostomyan makes no big outward show of her origins but works daily to keep her Armenian heritage alive and preserve it for the future in modern Turkey.

"Turkey is my country, I do not want to leave," she says. "And I don't want my children to be obliged to leave. If they can stay here, that would make me happy."

A Turkish Airlines passenger jet flying from the German city of Dusseldorf to Istanbul was forced to make an emergency landing in Nuremberg on Wednesday after a crack was discovered in the cockpit window, the airline said.

The airline said in a statement that the plane was diverted to Nuremberg in southern Germany shortly after takeoff when the crack was detected.

Turkish police on Thursday launched early morning raids against suspected members of an ultra-leftist group in Istanbul, after two deadly shootouts blamed on the militants that sent a wave of fear through the city.

At least 24 people were arrested in the raids in the Okmeydani district of Istanbul as dozens of police deployed in armored vehicles in the area, Turkish media said.

Turkish security forces Wednesday shot dead a female assailant armed with bombs and a gun after she and an accomplice sought to attack the police headquarters in Istanbul, reports said.

The male accomplice was injured but fled the scene of the clash, which came a day after a top prosecutor was killed in a hostage drama, Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin was quoted as saying by Turkish media.