Security tight for march to US Embassy on November 17 commemoration
Streets leading from the city center to the US Embassy in Athens were closed on Sunday afternoon as a march is scheduled at 3 p.m. from the central Patission Street campus of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA, also known as Polytechnio) to the embassy on Vassilissis Sofias Avenue, as part of events marking the 40th anniversary of a student uprising against the military dictatorship.
Hundreds of people have been laying wreaths and flowers since Friday at a memorial in the historical building marking the revolt against the junta on November 17, 1973, in which 24 civilians were killed when military tanks rolled into the campus of then-Athens Polytechnic.
The police has deployed some 7,000 officers to guard the event, which has been marked by violence in the past.
As part of security measures, authorities have closed down the Panepistimio, Syntagma and Evangelismos metro stations, while the stations of Megaro Moussikis and Ambelokipi near the US Embassy are to be shut down from 2.30 p.m.
Streets along the route have been closed to traffic and will remain so until the end of the rally in the evening.
