Athens, Nov 18 Some 32,000 people took to the

streets of Greece to mark the 41st anniversary of a deadly

student uprising that sparked the country’s return to

democracy in the 1970s.

As the march that officials said drew 18,000 people in

Athens was winding down yesterday, the 7,000-strong police

contingent used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse a crowd

burning American and European Union flags in front of the US

embassy.

Some 14,000 demonstrators in Greece’s second largest city

Thessaloniki, who were watched over by 1,000 police, went home

peacefully.

The march, which is a left and labour union tradition in

Greece, commemorates the November 17, 1973 Athens Polytechnic

university student uprising against the then ruling military

dictatorship.

More than 20 people were killed in clashes that day, but

it marked the beginning of the end for the junta that had held

power since 1967, with democracy being restored seven months

later.

Each year the demonstrators march to the US embassy for a

protest to denounce the role US intelligence agents played in

the military dictatorship’s rise to power.

In recent years demonstrators have also used the

anniversary to voice opposition to the harsh austerity

measures imposed on Greece by its international creditors

after the global financial crisis.

“At a moment when the government is trying to remove all

sense of social justice through austerity measures, the

demands of the Polytechnic remain current,” the General

Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE), the country’s main

union, said in a statement.

Last week students clashed with security forces in front

of Athens Polytechnic over a decision by the head of the

University of Athens to shorten by one day the annual

three-day shutdown of the school for the uprising anniversary.