  Contactless transfer of angular momentum from rotating laser beam to a solid
target is experimentally demonstrated. The effect is observed under irradiation
of a glassy carbon target immersed in water by a pulsed laser beam that is
scanned across the target surface along circular trajectory. The direction of
target rotation coincides with that of the laser beam at small thickness of the
liquid layer above the target while is opposite in case of higher thickness of
the layer. The effect is interpreted as the interplay between thermocapillary
and convective flows induced in the liquid by laser heating.
