Greeks mark 39th anniversary of uprising for democracy with anti-austerity rally

Political party leaders, academics, youth and elderly ordinary citizens flooded the courtyard of the National Technical University of Athens, where the pro-democracy struggle culminated, to place flowers at the monument honoring more than 20 students and civilians killed.
In their messages for the day, Greek President Karolos Papoulias and other state officials stressed that the commemoration of the uprising in difficult times for Greece, as the country faces a severedebt crisis since 2009, underlines the "need for Greeks to continue efforts to overcome recession and strengthen social justice."
Starting from the university site students had taken over in 1973 calling for "Bread, Education and Freedom," some 20,000 Greek citizens, according to estimates, participated on Saturday afternoon in a rally organized by student unions, chanting similar slogans, Kazinform refers to Xinhua.
The march traditionally ends each year in front of the U.S. embassy in Athens in protest of Washington's support for the junta at the time.
Demonstrators set American flags on fire, as a group of Greek Communist Party members was to continue this year to the Israel i embassy in protest of this week's Israeli strikes against the Gaza Strip.
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