Athens News Agency: News in English, 07-04-21

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] 40th year since 1967 military coup in Greece

[01] 40th year since 1967 military coup in Greece

In a visit to the former EAT-ESA headquarters on Saturday, where many opponents of the junta were held and tortured during the dictatorship, main opposition PASOK leader George Papandreou said that the threat to democratic institutions came from undermining them and the concentration of power of conservative forces in Europe and in Greece.

Referring to those held by EAT-ESA, he stressed that they were still seen as symbols of high principles and vision.

Papandreou visited the prisoners' cells, including the cell of Alekos Panagoulis, the man who almost succeeded in an attempt to assassinate the dictator Georgios Papadopoulos.

As he left the scene of torture, Papandreou met the head of the Coalition of the Left, of Movements and Ecology party Alekos Alavanos, who had been held at EAT-ESA himself for 2.5 months, and the two party leaders shook hands.

New Democracy party's message

The ruling party's message stressed that the seven years that followed April 21, 1967 were among the grimmest pages of modern Greek history.

"Forty years later, a strong democracy pays homage to those who fought and sacrificed themselves to restore it," the ND announcement said, noting that the progressive view that had humanity, social cohesion and social justice at its core was as timely as ever.

"The challenge is and was clear: to confront accumulated problems and chronic maladies," it added.

The government was continuing the changes and reforms that would guarantee improved prospects for all Greeks and, above all, the younger generation, it concluded.

PASOK stresses need to protect human rights

In its own message, the main opposition party described the seven-year junta as the darkest period of Greece's recent history, which culminated in the tragic invasion and occupation of Cyprus.

Though 40 years had passed since that time and democracy was more stable than ever, it was still wounded when the interests of the few were promoted at the expense of the many and when individual rights and freedoms were cut back, the party underlined.

"It is wounded when fear and insecurity about the future are the dominant feelings in society. It is wounded when, instead of society imposing its terms and conditions on a globalised market, conservative governments throughout the world allow the market to impose its terms on society."

"But it is wounded chiefly from the efforts of conservative governments to dismantle the welfare state, one of the fundamental supports of modern democracy," the party said.

It stressed that PASOK would not allow one step backward or any concession from the rights that Greek people had gained through struggles and sacrifices.

"Deepening democracy and democratic procedures is the duty of every socialist and democratic political force, as well as the common obligation of all those that serve the principles and values of freedom, equality, justice and respect for the dignity of every human being, which represents the ultimate value," the announcement concluded.

Left-wing parties messages for 1967 coup's anniversary

The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and the Coalition of Left, of Movements and Ecology (Synaspismos) parties issued messages condemning the seven-year dictatorial rule by the colonels.

"KKE calls on the working class and popular forces, capitalising on their political and class experiences, to formulate criteria and demands for their rights, which will respond to their own needs and those of capital," a KKE statement read.

"KKE calls on working people and youth to create their own anti-imperialistic alliance, aiming at radical changes in power and economy," the statement added.

Synaspismos, on its part, underlined in an announcement that "the main message of the sordid anniversary of April 21 is that the struggle for democracy must be continuous" and that "its institutional shielding against phenomena of decadence, its defence against any attempt to restrict democratic rights and its steadfast broadening with institutions safeguarding the participation of citizens, are elements directly linked to this struggle."

Caption: ANA-MPA file photograph taken during an exhibition or archive material on the junta organised by the Kaisariani municipality. It shows a photograph taken during the Polytechnic uprising in 1973, when tanks were used to break down the gates of the Athens Polytechnic to disperse the protesting students barricaded within.

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article