ATHENS (Reuters) – 1000’s of Greeks marched peacefully via the capital Athens on Wednesday to commemorate a 1973 protest wherein dozens died when the military cracked down on college students opposing navy rule.
Lots of of police guarded the peaceable march to the Embassy of the USA, which supplied tacit help to a seven-year navy dictatorship that collapsed in 1974.
On the entrance of the procession, people held a blood-stained Greek flag which belonged to college students engaged within the revolt that triggered a military crackdown.
Dozens are thought to have been killed when military tanks smashed via the gates of the Athens Polytechnic in 1973, the place college students had been staging a protest in opposition to the colonels ruling Greece since 1967.
The junta unravelled in 1974, amid a public outcry over a coup they instigated in Cyprus, triggering Turkey’s invasion of the island simply days later.
The annual march is commonly a focus for the general public to vent anger at authorities. Greater than 20,000 individuals participated within the demonstration, which introduced most of central Athens to a standstill.
Police deployed about 6,000 officers and two helicopters hovered over the town centre.
(Reporting By Lefteris Papadimas and Costas Baltas; Enhancing by David Gregorio)
