Thousands of people marched through Athens on Monday to commemorate the 1973 Athens Polytechnic uprising, the student-led revolt that played a key role in ending Greece’s military dictatorship. The annual march, which traditionally heads to the U.S. embassy — a symbolic location due to perceptions of American support for the junta — once again became a platform for wider political expression and dissent. At the front of the procession, students carried the iconic blood-stained Greek flag from the original uprising.

Participants paused outside the Greek Parliament to sing the national anthem in tribute to the victims of the 2023 train disaster, a tragedy that continues to fuel public anger over state failures. Demonstrators later reached the U.S. embassy, heavily guarded by police buses, where many carried carnations and banners reading “Resistance,” and some voiced solidarity with Palestinians. Authorities deployed nearly 5,000 officers across the city, detaining more than 30 people ahead of the march and arresting 11.

Earlier in the day, crowds gathered at the Athens Polytechnic to lay wreaths and carnations at the historic site where army tanks crushed the student revolt on November 17, 1973, killing dozens. The uprising is widely seen as the turning point that hastened the fall of the military regime. Many young participants said the message of the revolt — defending democracy and rights — remains deeply relevant today amid debates over new labour laws and government policies.

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