The government and the main opposition SYRIZA party battled heads on Tuesday over allegations that SYRIZA MP -and self-defined anarchist- Vangelis Diamantopoulos issued a call to arms to disgruntled Greeks. In such a framework, the New Democracy released a video of Mr. Diamantopoulos delivering a speech in which he is seen (and heard) suggesting that Greeks taking up guns is a justifiable response to the crisis. But what is really shocking is that he spoke also mentioned "The Mall" and four days later after this statement, terrorists planted a bomb at the well known shopping center!
In a statement, government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou referred to Diamantopoulos as being “terrorist-friendly” and an “anarchist” and accused him of making "The Mall" a target and then the government spokesman called on the justice system to investigate the matter.
SYRIZA responded by accusing Kedikoglou of presenting a heavily edited video of Diamantopoulos’s speech and of taking his comments out of context. A full version of the SYRIZA MP’s speech was then released where he says: “At the moment, they are saying to people: “In your exasperation, either commit suicide or pick up a gun.” What we say is: “Join us and turn this rage into a creative movement. That’s the clear message from SYRIZA.”
Diamantopoulos, who caused a stir in Parliament last week when he said that he had an anarchist background, is also seen in the video saying that the Villa Amalias squat in Athens raided recently by police was not a center of lawlessness.
SYRIZA then accused the New Democracy party of “forgery and disgusting provocation” and suggested that those responsible for distributing the edited footage should face criminal charges.
Both parties have been in a war of words over the last few weeks over the recent spat of violence. The conservatives accuse SYRIZA of not condemning it strongly enough, while the radical leftists accuse the ND party of purposely trying to divert people’s attention from the state of the economy.
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