Worst riots in years has struck Greece capital Athens as Greek MPs pass harsh austerity measures demanded by bailout crediters in order to accept the $170 rescue package from Troika and IMF. Even dozens of historic buildings have not been shunned by angry Greek rioters.

Athens / NationalTurk – Greek parliament approved additional harsh austerity measures demanded by bailout creditors to save Greece from bankruptcy, while rioters in central Athens set buildings ablaze, looted shops, and clashed with Greek police.

The historic austerity measures vote paves the way for Greece’s European partners and the International Monetary Fund to release $170 billion in new rescue loans. Without the loans, Greece would default on its massive debt next month and likely leave the eurozone – a scenario that would further roil global markets.

Greece : Greek Austerity measures set the country uprising

Waiting the Greek parliament vote and decide the fate of troubled Greece, looters smashed dozens of shops as 45 buildings, including a cinema, bank, cafeteria, a mobile phone dealership and a glassware shop burned in central Athens.

Police say at least 150 shops were looted in the capital. Dozens of police officers were injured and at least 70 people were hospitalized. Sixty-seven rioters were arrested for attacking police officers and over 75 more were detained.
The clashes erupted after more than 100,000 protesters marched peacefully to the parliament to rally against the drastic cuts, which will axe one in five civil service jobs and slash the minimum wage by more than 20 per cent. Around 2,000 were involved in the violence.

Greece ablaze as Greeks riot amid austerity measures and debt stricken Greek government

The violence spread throughout Greece, with riots taking place in Thessaloniki, Volos, Agrinio, the islands of Corfu and Crete. In Thessaloniki, clashes took place in the city center after the rallies and protest marches. In Volos during the protest, demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails into bank buildings, in the basement of the local municipal office, as well as the premises of the tax inspectorate.

Lawmakers voted, 199-74, in favor of the harsh cutbacks, despite strong dissent among the two main coalition members. A total of 37 lawmakers from the majority Socialists and conservative New Democracy party either voted against the party line, abstained, or voted present as Greece’s eurozone partners, meanwhile, kept up the pressure for overhaul.

Greek Islands on sale ?

Sunday’s clashes erupted after more than 100,000 protesters marched to the Greece parliament in Athens to rally against the drastic cuts, which will eliminate one in five civil-service jobs and slash the minimum wage more than a fifth as Greece desperatly need the rescue package or should face  bankruptcy. Greek parliamenters considered to sell some of the Greek islands to Turkey last year to lessen the budget deficit and debt, but feared it would cause dissent and drastic riots in Greece and stopped the process then.

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