Greece: General strike turns into riot

On September 26, a 24-hour general strike to protest the Greek government's spending cuts turned into a riot after a group of protesters threw stones, bottles and petrol bombs at police in the square in front of the Parliament building in the capital Athens.

Some of the protesters also broke windows and set fires in the square. Police were forced to use tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd. So far, 100 people have been arrested and at least 5 police officers have been injured.

Greek riot police. (Source: AFP)

Tens of thousands of people including local government employees, doctors, teachers, railway workers... participated in this general strike launched by state and private sector unions.

About 50,000 people marched through the Parliament building, chanting slogans against Athens's need to accept spending cuts to receive a new international bailout package, against the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Police said that in addition to Athens, about 18,000 people marched in the city of Thessaloniki. This was the first large-scale protest in Greece since the country's new government was formed three months ago. Road and rail traffic was paralyzed, dozens of flights were canceled, and security in the capital Athens was increased.

The Greek government is currently adjusting austerity measures to save 12 billion euros in the period from 2013 to 2014 - a condition for the troika of international creditors including the EU, IMF and European Central Bank (ECB) to disburse 31.5 billion euros in loans under the second international bailout worth 130 billion euros for Athens.

It is expected that to meet this condition, Athens will be forced to continue cutting salaries and pensions, as well as laying off some public employees. Observers believe that this move is likely to incite more protests in the future./.

According to (TTXVN) - DT