Polytechnic Day ends peacefully in Athens

By Magda Panoutsopoulou

ATHENS (AA) - More than 20,000 mostly university students, leftist groups and the Association of Imprisoned-Exiled Resistance Members 1967-1974 participated in a massive rally Wednesday to commemorate a deadly protest in the 1970s.

The demonstration that started from downtown Athens and ended at the US Embassy was peaceful with no incidents in the center of Athens. Minor clashes were reported in Greece’s second city, Thessaloniki, and Patras.

In Thessaloniki, police used tear gas against demonstrators who threw Molotov cocktails outside the Thessaloniki Polytechnic school.

Police deployed more than 5,000 officers around Athens and near the US Embassy to avoid a possible confrontation with anarchists.

The demonstrations were to mark the 48th anniversary of when the Greek army used an armored battle vehicle to invade the National Technical University of Athens, which was under student occupation for three days on Nov. 17, 1973.

Students were demanding the fall of the military dictatorship that was established in a coup led by Col. George Papadopoulos in 1967.

It was reported that more than 20 people were killed but the exact number of deaths is unknown.