Protesters get ready to storm the port in Thessaloniki

Protesters storm the port in Thessaloniki, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Every year people in Greece remember the 1973 student demonstrations in Athens Polytechnic, which lead to the downfall of the junta which had ruled the country since 1967. (for more details click here for more historical background).

This year the demonstration was different in that instead of ending at the American consulate on Tsimiski, the protesters continued until the port where they broke down the entrance gates and bypassed the waiting riot police, luckily without violence. Later members of KKE (Kommounistiko Komma Ellados/Communist party of Greece) wrote anti - NATO slogans on Spanish warships in the harbour.