Athens Riots
Greece is a debt-ridden country. The Indignant Citizens’ Movement is the peaceful sit-in of the Constitution Square of Athens named Syntagma, in front of the parliament. It started demonstrating in many cities across Greece from May 25. It is not organized by any political party. The spark was enlightened by the Tunisian Revolution that inspired many other countries of the Arab World and then the 2011 Spanish and Portugal Protests. All those demonstrations were organized through Facebook and other social Networks.
Citizens united with solidarity and dignity. People assembly every night. The majority of Athenians, pass by the parliament shouting nasty words to the politicians because most of them are corrupted. People also shout “Bread, education, liberty, the dictatorship didn’t end in 1973″. On June 15, a huge demonstration and strike took place in Greece. Ruling Socialist party launched negotiation about a coalition government with rival conservative party. Prime Minister Yorgos Papandreou was ready to quit, because of the new austerity plans that enraged the nation which already were hit from the draconian welfare cuts. Instead of resignation, he reshuffled his government. Riot police came out in the streets with thousands of people in the square, fired repeated volleys of tear gas to repel demonstrators and provocateurs hurling ripped –up paved stones. Finally, the peaceful groups of Syntagma, managed to through out of the square provocateurs and police. On June 28, thousands of protesters clashed with riot police outside the parliament during a 48hours general strike against the midterm agreement. On June 29, riot police was extremely violent, clashes and arrests were happening meanwhile parliament approved the austerity measures for Greece to receive its next installment of 46 billion euros by the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank. Photographs by Maro Kouri
