Greeks mark 1973 student uprising anniversary

Greek riot police officers keep a watchful eye at demonstrators in a march in central Athens, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Several thousand people march to the U.S. Embassy in Athens under tight police security to commemorate a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by Greece's military junta, that ruled the country from 1967-74. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) (The Associated Press)

University students hold a blood-stained Greek flag from the deadly 1973 student uprising in Athens, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Several thousand people marched to the U.S. Embassy in Athens under tight police security to commemorate a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by Greece's military junta, that ruled the country from 1967-74. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis) (The Associated Press)

University students hold a blood-stained Greek flag from the deadly 1973 student uprising in Athens, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Several thousand people marched to the U.S. Embassy in Athens under tight police security to commemorate a 1973 student uprising that was crushed by Greece's military junta, that ruled the country from 1967-74. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis) (The Associated Press)

Greeks are marking the anniversary of the crushing of a 1973 student uprising against the military junta that ruled the country from 1967-74, with protest marches planned to the U.S. Embassy in Athens.

Riot police will be deployed Thursday in the center of the capital to guard against potential violence, which has frequently broken out in previous years.

The march begins in the afternoon at the gates of the Polytechnic, where the country's military rulers had sent a tank crashing through the front gate to suppress the student uprising, and will head through the city center to the U.S. Embassy, protesting America's stance on the dictatorship at the time.