Greek, Turkish and Kurdish groups on Monday staged a peaceful rally outside the Turkish embassy in the center of Athens in a sign of solidarity for protestors participating anti-government demonstrations in Turkey.

"We are divided by a sea, we are united in dignity," chanted the demonstrators, mainly Left-wing Greeks and Turkish students in Athens.

Similar gatherings were also held in other cities in Greece, such as the northern port of Thessaloniki and Chania on the island of Crete at the southern Aegean Sea.

More than 170 people are injured Turkey and 730 detained after a week of fierce anti-government protests which started as an environmental sit-in protest at Gezi Park in coastal city of Istanbul over plans to redevelop that part of Taksim Square. It then turned into anti-government demonstrations against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"We heard it on the news and it makes us really sad what is going on in Turkey... We want peace and we want some forest in our city. We want our people to be free. That's all we need," Birant Erdaz, a 21 year old Turkish student who is working in an European project in Athens, told Xinhua outside the Turkish embassy.

"We denounce the violence and especially that kind of violence that is vulgar and has no political basis. This violence encroaches upon laws, human rights and certainly has no ethical and political footing," said Mimika Katsanidou, a 40 year old Greek private sector employee.

Meanwhile, the Greek government said it was closely following developments in Turkey.

"It is very important to follow the developments with cautiousness," Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Kostas Tsiaras said on Monday. Greek opposition parties have also issued statements expressing concerns. Endi

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