18 November, 2010
 The 37th anniversary of the November 17 students' uprising at the Athens Polytechnic, is being commemorated with the customary three-day celebrations.
The uprising was the most significant popular protest against the seven-year dictatorship that ruled the country from 1976 to 1974. Starting November 15, 1973 thousands of students occupied the Polytechnic and transmitted a message of resistance against the military junta, through the legendary radio station they set up.
In the early hours of November 17, the regime tanks entered the school yard, killing dozens of resisting students. But the revolt and its tragic epilogue untangled the events that finally led to the fall of the colonels’ regime, and became a point of reference for Modern Greek history.
In his message marking the anniversary, President Papoulias noted that this year is a difficult one for our country, when many things are at stake, adding that the Polytechnic uprising reminds people that the young generation is always on the front lines of social reversals.
Celebrations culminate today with the annual march from the Polytechnic to the American Embassy, a symbolic protest for the support offered to the regime by the United States.
Source: GREEK NEWS AGENDA issued by the Secretariat Genera
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