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The 50th anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic Uprising [InTime News]
Welcome to the weekly round-up of news by Kathimerini English Edition. The Athens Polytechnic uprising of November 17, 1973, is one of the defining moments of the modern Greek master narrative as popular sentiment, spearheaded by a student movement, rallied in favor of democracy against the authoritarian regime of the military junta. On its 50th anniversary, up to 25,000 people took to the streets of Athens to commemorate the uprising and marched from the buildings of the Polytechnic in the center of the city to the American Embassy, with some participants also moving towards the embassy of Israel. Marches also took place in many other Greek cities including Thessaloniki, Patra, Irakleio, Larisa and Hania. The annual demonstrations have on occasion acted as flash points for rioting and, with one of the largest turnouts in recent years, the police were on high alert. Approximately 5,500 police officers were mobilized, with the American Embassy being surrounded by riot police and officers lining the far left and anarchist segments of the march. However, despite some minor skirmishes in the major cities, the marches were largely peaceful. The political parties of the wider left (center-left PASOK, SYRIZA, the Greek Communist Party, and MeRA25) were all present, as were many student bodies and young parents with their children. Additionally, several demonstrators displayed banners in support of Palestine as well as protesting the killing of a 17-year-old Roma by a police officer last weekend, the third such incident in three years. Earlier, President Katerina Sakellaropoulou laid a wreath at a memorial dedicated to the victims of the suppression that followed the uprising, stating that “democracy stands firm and robust, our responsibility is to protect it with the same passion and unwavering determination exhibited by those resilient young people fifty years ago.” Finally, it is bitterly ironic, that just a day after the celebrations of the uprising against the military dictatorship, the destroyer ‘D-16 Velos’ that mutinied against the regime and fled to Italy during an abortive coup by elements of the Hellenic Navy just months before the Athens Polytechnic, garnering international interest into the situation in Greece, was damaged during a storm and faces a serious risk of capsizing. Spotlight
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OPINION
 [InTime News]Last Tuesday, Berlin hosted the prime minister of Greece and two days later, it was the president of Turkey who paid a visit to the German capital.The image projected by the two leaders could not be more different. The same was true about the way they were received by Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Kyriakos Mitsotakis was welcomed as the leader of a dedicated member of the EU, part of the common effort to promote the European project, and a reliable western ally in an explosive region. Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a confrontational press conference with the German leader, siding with Hamas and criticizing Berlin, as well as the rest of the West, for supporting Israel’s right to self defense, taking an indirect jab at Germany saying that Turkey, unlike others, does not owe Israel anything. Greece, having gone through the dark period of its economic crisis – during which it was treated rather harshly by Germany and others – is now on a positive trajectory. “From being the black sheep in the years of the crisis, it is now an example,” declared Kyriakos Mitsotakis in his meeting with the chancellor. On the geostrategic level, Athens is developing into a useful potential energy hub and important security partner. On the other hand, Ankara is viewed as a “difficult ally”, an awkward member of NATO. Obviously, Greece and Turkey are countries of different sizes and geopolitical weight. Still, the former’s credibility is on the rise, while the latter is seen by the West as a thorn it must live and deal with. |
| CHART OF THE WEEK |
 The performance of Greece in terms of debt-to-GDP ratio reduction will continue over the next several years according to credit ratings agency Moody’s which highlighted the strong growth of the Greek economy, the very favorable public debt profile, as well as the very good debt management strategy. Indicatively, from 206% of GDP in 2020, Greek public debt is expected to decline to 160% of GDP this year, with projections of a further 9% reduction next year. With Greek bond yields having already “beaten” their Italian counterparts, the next targets (Spain and Portugal) are looking increasingly attainable. |
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| ECONOMY IN A NUTSHELL |
| “The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,250.44 points this week, a two-month high, with the benchmark finishing 3.94% higher than previous week.” |
| “The Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) sold a 22% stake in National Bank of Greece (NBG) after an unprecedented sum of offers at a private placement, with the sale oversubscribed by more than eight times. The sale of NBG shares sent turnover for the Greek stock market soaring above 1 billion euros for the first time in 15 years.” |
| “The Greek state budget recorded a primary surplus of 5.8 billion euros, on a cash basis, in the first 10 months of the year according to the latest data released by the Bank of Greece. Over the same period last year, an 859-million-euro deficit was recorded. This is primarily the result of increased regular budget revenues, with over 50 billion euros this year compared to less than 45 billion euros last year.” |
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Editor's Pick Too often today, American and NATO’s diplomatic discourse forgets the Greek contribution to the Korean War.Michael RubinRead the article |
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