A woman places a red carnations on the monument in memory of the victims of the 1973 student's uprising against the US-backed military junta at the Athens' polytechnic school on November 16, 2019. AFP / Louisa Gouliamaki
ATHENS: Greeks were expected to march through central Athens on Sunday evening to mark the anniversary of a violently quashed student uprising in 1973 that helped topple the military junta then ruling the country.
The annual march often becomes a focal point for protests against government policies and in recent years against austerity, after a decade-long debt crisis.
Police deployed more than 5,000 officers on the streets of central Athens on Sunday. A helicopter hovered over the central Syntagma Square and neighboring districts through the day.
The procession will end at the U.S. Embassy. Protesters resent Washington for its support of the 1967-1974 military dictatorship.
Last week, police clashed with students protesting against the shutdown of a prominent Athens university, the University of Economics and Business. Authorities had raided the university to confiscate materials they said were typically used in violent demonstrations.
It was the first time police and protesters had clashed inside university premises since the conservative government's abolition of academic sanctuary in August.
