Thousands march through Athens to mark student uprising

ATHENS: Around 25,000 people marched through Athens on Sunday in closely watched demonstrations to mark the 51th anniversary of the pro-democracy uprising that helped topple military rule in Greece, police said.

The protests are held every year to commemorate the 1973 Athens Polytechnic protests that killed 24 people, when the ruling junta sent troops to break up an anti-government uprising.

As the commemoration is often marred by far-left violence on the sidelines, more than 5,500 officers were deployed on Sunday.