March for 45th anniversary of November 17 Polytechnic uprising ends in Athens
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
The 45th annual protest march to the US Embassy in Athens, held each year on November 17 to mark the anniversary of the 1973 student uprising at the Athens Polytechnic, was concluded on Saturday evening.
Student unions, members of ruling SYRIZA and other parties, leftist organisations, trade unionists and others took part in the march, shouting slogans against fascism, nazism and the far right and opposition to NATO and the United States.
The main body of the march had reached the US Embassy in Athens at around 18:00 while an earlier bloc carrying the bloodstained flag of the Polytechnic had arrived first at 16:30.
A separate march was organised by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) that started with a rally in Omonia, with KKE General Secretary Dimitris Koutsoumbas attending.
The SYRIZA bloc included ministers and MPs, including Digital Policy and Media Minister Nikos Pappas, Alternate Defence Minister Panos Rigas, SYRIZA Secretary and MP Panos Skourletis and SYRIZA MP Anneta Kavvadia. Tension erupted between the SYRIZA bloc and another group of protestors when it reached the U.S. Embassy.
There were also incidents between protestors and police at the tail end of the march and tear gas was used, while according to Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA) sources, two people were injured and were picked up by an ambulance.
The city centre was blocked to traffic, while the Megaro Mousikis, Evangelismos and Syntagma metro stations have been closed at the orders of the police.
Three metro stations to close on Saturday due to Polytechnic uprising celebrations, says police
Source: ANA-MPA