Thirteen arrests made in Athens during Polytechnic clashes

A total of 13 arrests were made in Athens during Thursday night’s clashes between self-styled anarchists and riot police in the Exarchia area.

Authorities said the suspects included 12 men, aged between 16 and 35, as well as a 22-year-old woman. Among those arrested were three Syrian nationals, a Romanian man and an Albanian.

The clashes, which left six police officers injured, marred the anniversary on Thursday of the deadly crackdown on a student uprising in 1973 by the military junta.

According to reports, groups of self-styled anarchists in hoods pelted riot police units with petrol bombs in and around the Athens Polytechnic, the site where, 43 years ago, army tanks crashed through the gates to put down a student revolt, reportedly leaving dozens of dead behind.

One group of rioters, describing themselves as anarchists, occupied one of the Polytechnic’s buildings and set up road blocks with broken chairs on surrounding streets.

Minor clashes also occurred in Thessaloniki where authorities arrested a 28-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman, while another 12 people were also arrested in Patra after late night street riots. Trouble was also reported in the towns of Ioannina, Patra and Iraklio.

Before the outbreak of the clashes, the anniversary was marked by some 16,000 people who took part in a peaceful march through Athens, chanting slogans against rising unemployment, pension and wage cuts, and the leftist-led government, which went back on its pre-election promises to scrap austerity