Thousands of Greeks marched behind a blood-stained national flag on Saturday to commemorate the violent suppression of a 1973 student uprising against a US-backed military junta.
The bloodied flag that flew over the Athens Polytechnic on the night of November 17, 1973 -- seen as a key moment in the restoration of democracy to Greece -- was carried as usual at the head of the annual demonstration in memory of those who died.
Student associations, members of the main opposition party, the radical left Syriza, and other leftist groups were among those who took part in the march through Athens.
Police said about 20,000 people marched in total in the capital.
"The message of the Polytechnic is more current then ever," said a 28-year-old jobless man, Sotiris Lambrou, in Athens.
