Turkish leftists were arrested at the Constantinople Airport on Wednesday while preparing to travel to Greece, in order to be trained on how to create explosives" (!!!), claim Turkish authorities. And all this several days before Greece gets set to commemorate the anniversary of November 17. A report on Greece's planet-greece.blogspot.com said that the two leftists were arrested by Turkish intelligence services (MIT) just minutes after check in.
More exactly, Turkish media reports claimed that two alleged members (women) of the terrorist organisation DHKP-C were arrested at the Constantinople airport prior to boarding a plane for Greece with false identification papers. Turkish reports claimed they were going to a disused military camp in Lavrio, southeast of Athens. The same site had often been "featured" in Turkish media, and at times even cited by official circles in Turkey in the 1990s, as a training camp for Kurdish insurgents, a claim Athens had angrily denied.
The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the allegations by the Turkish authorities in Ankara were "absolutely untrue" and "outdated propaganda". Two months ago, foreign ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras responded to similar reports made by the Turkish daily "Hurriyet" saying that they were false allegations that get recycled frequently by the Turkish press. At the time he had also said that there were no such training centers in Greece (obviously...), and this type of news only wants aims to aggravate the relations between the two countries.
We respect what the Foreign Ministry says, but are curious as to why these reports are springing up so frequently.
We know for a fact from countless reports that Greek authorities are well aware of the links that far-left anarchist organizations in Greece have with other foreign organizations (example Italian anarchists). What if these two women, who were coming from Turkey were not coming to be trained, but rather to participate in possible explosive attacks? A report on defencenet -which also featured this story- from planetgreece said earlier on Thursday afternoon that because of the the current economic and social conditions in Greece (which we all know have been hit hard by the economic crisis), an explosive hit, or a spectacular bombing by anarchists would have created a sensation, not only in Greece but also throughout Europe. They also revealed another interesting bit of information that left us in awe. The report said that ahead of some of the larger demonstrations that were held in Greece over the past few years, officials had arrested dozens of such foreigners, and/or left-wing anarchists, which, it underlines, also participated in these protests.
The report even noted that authorities are very familiar with the militarization and equipment of these far-left anarchist groups. Revealing some leaked information, the report even shockingly said that these very same leftist groups traveled to Lebanon several years ago in order to receive training in the manufacturing of explosives.
Defencenet then pointed to several press reports that were published a little over two years ago in the Greek media claiming that about 25-30 Greek citizens, which the report underlines maintain close relations with other anti-authoritarian organizations, travelled to the Middle East (or specifically during the period late 2009 early 2010). Once there they linked with specific networks of Islamic organizations whose operations cannot really be determined (simply put, groups that are involved in very suspicious operations). Following this development, Greek security forces and intelligence services, but also to the Greek foreign ministry as well were quickly informed. Interestingly, Israeli and American authorities were also briefed right away.
Once there, adds the same report, the young anti-authoritarians (or Greek leftists) apparently received training in the use of weapons as well as studied the methods used by Islamist groups (we guess in combat). In partnership with organizations such as "Hezbollah" (which the report added acted as educators), Greek anti-authoritarians allegedly learned how to use small arms such as AK-47 Kalashnikovs, and RPGs.
The Athens Polytechnic uprising in 1973 was a massive demonstration of popular rejection of the Greek military junta of 1967-1974. November 17 is currently observed as a holiday in Greece for all educational establishments; commemorative services are held and students attend school only for these, while some schools and all universities stay closed during the day. The central location for the commemoration is the campus of the Polytechneio. The commemoration day ends traditionally with a demonstration that begins from the campus of the Polytechneio and ends at the United States embassy, and later anarchists take over and create chaos all over Athens.
The student uprising is hailed by many as a valiant act of resistance against the military dictatorship, and therefore as a symbol of resistance to tyranny, but it is certainly not a symbol for chaos. On that note, and after this frightening (and shocking) report, we here at HellasFrappe extend the hope that this year's commemoration will be peaceful and not once again be blackened with the anti-authoritarian chaos.
Resources
- defencenet - http://www.defencenet.gr/defence/item/
- planet greece - http://planet-greece.blogspot.com/2012/11/blog-post_1113.html
- Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athens_Polytechnic_uprising
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