OLA Terrorist Group Claims Responsibility for Attack Against Israeli Embassy

Greece's counter-terrorism unit received a 20-page declaration from the terrorist group titled "Group of Popular Fighters (OLA)", which claiming responsibility for the armed attack on the Israeli embassy on the 12th of December.

According to a report in To Vima, the 20-page declaration was discovered in a garbage can in the district of Nea Smyrni, following a phone call to the Efymerida ton Syntakton newspaper.

The official police report from the terrorist attack last December had noted that 54 7.62mm shells were used which were fired from a Kalashnikov assault riffle.

During the attack there were no injuries, but quite a bit of damage was made to the building.

It should be reminded, that the same terrorist group had also claimed responsibility against the residence of the German ambassador in Athens (December 2013), as well as the assault on the offices of the New Democracy party on Sygrou Avenue (January 2013).

Greek-American CIA Whistle-Blower Speaks Out From Prison

Greek-American John Kiriakou is the only CIA employee that was sent to prison in connection with the agency’s torture program. He is not serving time because he tortured prisoners, but because he revealed the information to a reporter. In fact, Kiriakou is the CIA officer who told ABC News in 2007 that his agency waterboarded suspected al-Qaeda prisoners after the September 11 attacks, namely Abu Zubaydah, thought to be a key al Qaeda official. Although he felt at the time that waterboarding probably saved lives, this Greek-American intelligence officer nevertheless came to view the practice as torture and later claimed he unwittingly understated how many times Zubaydah was subjected to waterboarding. The following report by Andrew Jerell Jones first appeared on the Intercept and then on Mignatiou.com. 

Jerell Jones (Intercept) - In January 2012, John Kiriakou was charged by the Justice Department for allegedly and repeatedly disclosing classified information to journalists. The Justice Department accused Kiriakou of disclosing the identity of a CIA officer involved in Zubaydah’s capture to a freelance reporter. The reporter did not publicly reveal the official’s name, but his name did appear on a website in October 2012. Kiriakou also allegedly provided New York Times reporter Scott Shane information on CIA employee Deuce Martinez, who was involved in Zubaydah’s capture and interrogation.

After agreeing to a plea deal in October 2012, Kiriakou was sentenced in January 2013 to 30 months in prison. That sentence made him the second CIA employee ever to be locked up under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, which bars the release of the name of a covert agent; the first was Sharon Scranage, who in 1985 pled guilty to disclosing the identities of intelligence agents in Ghana after giving classified information to a Ghanaian, reportedly her lover.

Kiriakou is not without support from former colleagues. His friend and former boss, Bruce Riedel, sent a letter to President Obama, signed by other CIA officers, urging him to commute Kiriakou’s prison sentence. That did not happen.

A father of five children, Kiriakou says the CIA asked his wife to resign from her job at the agency immediately following his arrest, and he is in major debt from his legal fees.

Kiriakou is is scheduled for early transfer out of federal prison in Loretto, Pennsylvania on February 3. In a wide-ranging phone interview with The Intercept, Kiriakou, 50, shared his thoughts on the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA interrogation techniques, on his incarceration, and on his future after prison.

You don’t have access to the internet in prison, so have you been able to see just one page of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report?
Well, my cousin ended up printing the entire thing and sent it to me. Yeah, he sent it to me in five different envelopes.

So was there anything in the report that surprised you? Did you feel even more despair at being the only CIA officer jailed since the program came into existence?
One thing that I think most everybody has missed is, we knew about the waterboarding, we knew about the cold cells, we knew about the loud music and the sleep deprivation. We knew about all the things that have been ‘approved’ by the Justice Department. But what we didn’t know was what individual CIA officers were doing on their own without any authorization. And I would like to know why those officers aren’t being prosecuted when clearly they’ve committed crimes and those crimes were well documented by both the CIA and the Senate Committee of Intelligence.
One thing that certainly was an eye opener, even to close observers of this program, was the brutal treatment of these prisoners. The tragic death of Gul Rahman, an Afghan, comes to mind. Gul Rahman is probably the best example. The man was murdered in cold blood, so where’s the prosecution? You come home, you murder somebody in cold blood, you get a promotion and a $2,500 bonus. That is not the message we ought to be sending.

There have been some who have tried to exempt George W. Bush from any blame from the program. They claim that he knew about the specifics in 2006, as the report mentions. Do you agree with that assessment from those defending him?
That’s just simply not true. They knew about it all the way up to the top. I remember sitting at a meeting with one of the top three officials at the CIA when the program was approved. And throughout the conversation, he kept on saying, “I can’t believe the president signed off on that program. I can’t believe it.” He kept saying it. Because it was so radical and violent that even internally we didn’t think there would be permission forthcoming. And there was. And it got out of hand, and it was a slippery slope and the ball kept rolling down the hill. And the next thing you know, we’re killing people.

As a CIA agent for 18 years, what is your summary of this program from both an operating perspective and a moral one?
When I was in the counter terrorism center, an official came up to me and asked me if I wanted to be certified in the enhanced interrogation techniques. And I said, “Look, I have a moral problem with this. I think there’s a slippery slope, I think somebody is going to get killed. There’s going to be an investigation. And a bunch of people are going to go to prison, and I don’t want any part of it.” And ironically, I was the only one who went to prison.

After almost two decades of service, can you talk about the most stressful situation you have been in?
I came within a quarter of a mile of being killed. Twice, twice, I have survived assassination attempts. Once in the Middle East, I wrote about it in my book. And then in Greece. And in Greece, instead of killing me, they killed [British military attaché] Stephen Saunders because he was a quarter of a mile ahead of me [in June 2000]. And they said in their communiqué that they saw me in my car but they knew it was armored and that I was armed. And Stephen Saunders was just in his vehicle he shipped from London and he didn’t have a gun on him. And they killed him instead. I’ve devoted my whole entire, adult life to the national security. And I’ll go to my grave knowing that I did the right thing.

Now that you have seen the report, did the “rectal hydration” shock you as another detail you didn’t know?
Sickening. I can’t imagine under any circumstances a justification for something like that. There are ways to hydrate prisoners, there are ways to provide nourishment for prisoners who are on hunger strikes. It’s not by shoving hummus up their asses. That’s not how you provide nutrition for somebody that’s in your custody. That was shocking to me.

Another startling detail was the $81 million dollars given to a company set up by two psychologists, James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen. Did you know anything about these two figures?
I remember those guys very well. They had two little offices in the back. The counter terrorism center is a very, very enormous office. It’s a cubicle farm. Everyone else is in a cubicle. But there are private offices around the edges, along the walls. And those guys just sort of showed up one day and got private offices. And yeah, we were like, who were these guys? They’re not even blue badgers, they’re not even staff employees. They’re green badgers, they’re contractors. And we were told, don’t ask questions about those guys.

Did the gruesome conditions at the Salt Pit and other torture sites surprise you?
I had no idea. That was a revelation. I actually took a tour of the new Bagram prison when I was with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Man, that was a nice place. It was great. In many ways, it’s better than what we have here [in Loretto]. But the fact of the matter is that we weren’t housing prisoners in that prison. We were housing them in a dungeon on the other side of the base that has been called a ‘salt pit.’ There were atrocities taking place at the ‘salt pit.’

That fancy prison that we spent millions and millions of tax payer dollars on is completely empty.

Editor’s note: The Bagram detention center was closed in December 2014. It remains unclear what the balance of prisoners was between that facility and the so-called “Salt Pit,” a CIA black site, when both were operational.

Jose Rodriguez, the former director of the CIA’S National Clandestine Service, apparently went against the wishes of his own agency’s lawyers over adequately screening potential interrogators. When they expressed concern over his selection process, he replied, ‘It is simply not your job.’ What are your thoughts on this?
He’s the worst of the worst. With Jose Rodriguez especially, here you have a guy who made the decision to make the tapes… He’s the one who ordered the tapes be made of CIA officers torturing first Abu Zubaydah and others after him. And then he gets promoted to deputy director for operations and he makes the decision to destroy the tapes after being specifically told by (then Senior Deputy General Counsel) John Rizzo don’t destroy the tapes. And he did it anyway. There’s no fallout or punishment. There’s no nothing.

Read the whole interview on  Mignatiou.com

Tsipras Appoints PASOK Veteran Reporter As Head of Intelligence Agency

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Saturday appointed journalist Yiannis Roubatis as the head of Greece's National Intelligence Service (EYP). According to the Parapolitika newspaper, the appointment of Roubatis came as a surprise to many because it is the first time that a journalist assumes a position that was routinely occupied by officials from the military, the police or ambassadors, etc.

(There were some exceptions of course throughout Greek history with the appointments of Tsimas, Papanghelopoulos and Dravillas).

Roubatis was born in 1948 in Ioannina and studied in the USA. He is said to hold a PhD in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University.

He served as the Washington correspondent for the socialist To Vima newspaper for quite a few years and after the rise of Andreas Papandreou in 1981, Roubatis became a special advisor to the then PASOK PM on international issues.

In March 1987 he assumed a role in Papandreou's government and remained in this position until June 1988 when Andreas Papandreou replaced him with Dimitri Maroudas.

It should also be noted that he served as PASOK's eurodeputy from 1994-1999 and was an extremely close associate to the founder of PASOK Andreas Papandreou.

(As we can clearly see, more and more hardline PASOK veterans are assuming more and more posts in the government.)

Sources - enikos, protothema, parapolitika

BUSTED: New Clip Proves That Western Mercenaries Are On The Ground in Mariupol (VIDEOS)

Amid the recent devastation in the area of Mariupol, (which was even more violent than before the truce was signed last year) a strange video clip has emerged on the web that appears to provide to prove without a shadow of a doubt that US military boots are on the ground in Ukraine.

It should be reminded that Kiev’s troops and Donbass militia forces are locked in renewed hostilities in southeastern Ukraine after a shaky ceasefire reached by the sides in September utterly collapsed. Ukrainian forces launched a massive offensive in mid-January, but failed to gain any ground despite employing tanks, artillery and aviation.

In the clip below, a Ukrainian journalist approaches what she thinks is a Ukrainian soldier (since he is wearing a Ukrainian military uniform and is carrying an AK rifle) and asked him as they run through the battle zone, "tell me, what happened here?"

His response, which requires no translation, speaks for itself. In a perfect American accent he states "out of my face, out of my face".

This clip raises many questions about the US involvement in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Which raises another question: Did the West also stage the Mariupol massacre as well?

Here is the controversial clip:

Obviously, and without a shadow of a doubt, this is Smoking Gun Evidence of Western mercenaries in Mariupol! HellasFrappe agrees with the commentator of the video who clearly states that the man obviously speaks fluent English and as we can all see he is wearing fatigues known to be worn by American and Western mercenaries. Obviously the man pictured in the video... is just part of the Western backed forces from all across the globe, including Australia and Canada!

Here is another clip:

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian government called for a state of emergency.

     "In accordance with the Ukrainian Code of Civil Protection, the Cabinet of Ministers has adopted a decision to recognize an emergency situation at a state level," Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk announced was cited as saying by Interfax-Ukraine.

According to him, the move is aimed at providing the most efficient coordination of all government agencies in order to ensure civil protection and the safety of the population. The statement was made after the field meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, which took place at the headquarters of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Kiev on Monday.

(Combined Reports - Youtube, Interfax)

Authorities arrest accomplice of convicted terrorist Xiros

Greek anti-terror police on Thursday arrested a 23-year-old man (of Armenian origin) who they suspect is an accomplice to recently recaptured November 17th terrorist Christodoulos Xiros. According to reports, the suspect was arrested at his home in southern Athens, after an arrest warrant was issued for his participation in a terrorist group and theft.

Authorities are convinced that the man had stolen a van from the area of Galatsi (central Athens) which was to later on be used as an escape vehicle after a planned prison break at the Korydallos penitentiary, where members of the anarchist Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire group are serving time in prison.

The suspects fingerprints were found in the van which was discovered in the area of Aigaleo (western Athens).

Authorities Continue With Search for More Accomplices of Xiros

Following the arrest of two alleged accomplices of Christodoulos Xiros in Kalamata on Wednesday, Greek authorities have beefed up their efforts to pinpoint and hopefully arrest any or other accomplices.

Currently they are still looking for a 22-year-old woman who appears to have acted as a messenger between Xiros and various members of the Conspiracy of Fire Cells terrorist group, but at the same time authorities are also looking for a 50-year-old bank employee who is alleged to have rented an apartment in Loutraki that Xiros used.

Authorities suspect that Xiros and the Conspiracy of Fire Cells group may have developed greater ties with criminal gangs. Apparently some officials told the To Vima newspaper that Xiros and the Conspiracy of Fire Cells were planning to play a support (or minor role) in some sort of operation, that also included a daring prison escape. The paper noted that the officers stressed that after Xiros escaped from Korydallos, he joined a criminal group which allegedly receives orders from within the prison and which has formed an alliance with the imprisoned members of the Conspiracy of Fire Cells.

Authorities arrest 2 suspected accomplices of Xiros in Kalamata

Greece's counter-terrorism unit arrested two men in the city of Kalamata (southern Peloponnese), that are suspected of being accomplices of the recently recaptured (and convicted) Christodoulos Xiros (a former member of the notorious November 17th terrorist organization).

According to Greek press reports, the two suspects are a 37 year-old man of Greek origin and a 34 year-old Albanian national. At present they are being interrogated by the counter-terrorism police and according to the same reports will later be taken to the prosecutor, where charges will be addressed against them.

The same reports claim that the second suspect (or the Albanian national) appears to be the person who rented the home that Christodoulos Xiros was using in the area of Anavyssos (southern Athens) just before being recaptured by Greek authorities. It also appears that there were outstanding warrants for his arrest, following the investigations that took place at the two hideouts.

Europol: Greece among EU countries on high terrorism alert

As shocking as this may sound Greece is among EU countries put on alert by Europol for possible acts of terrorism by jihadists using cars packed with explosives.

According to an anonymous police official, the warning was issued on Saturday and it is going to remain in effect until January 17th.

A report from the the state news agency ANA-MPA, it involves one or more of seven jihadists whose names and photographs are currently being circulated by Europol after the terrorist attacks in France.

The report from ANA-MPA added that the European police agency is asking all EU members to notify it if any of the seven passed through border controls and be on alert in case they do.

According to the information, the jihadists have been trained in Yemen and have connections in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Greece was not specifically mentioned in the alert, the official said, nor was any evidence as of this writing that any of them had passed through border controls in any EU country, but the information pointed at Belgium, Britain and Holland as countries with a higher likelihood of terrorism acts related to the seven.

2nd Hideout of Terrorist Xiros Discovered - "Conspiracy of the Cells" Confirms Escape Plan in Letter

Greek authorities discovered a second home in the area of Loutraki thought to be linked to convict Christodoulos Xiros, who was recaptured last Saturday. According to various report in the Greek press, the home had been rented by an accomplice of Xiros using a forged ID which officials found when they captured Xiros. The same reports say that a van was uncovered in the grounds of the residence and it is believed that Xiros and accomplices were planning to use this vehicle in a bold attack on Korydallos prison in an attempt to free jailed members of the guerrilla group "Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire."

Reports also said that some of the equipment that was recovered from the two hideouts suggests that Xiros and his accomplices were constructing explosive devices that were to be detonated remotely, possibly via mobile phone. The “People’s Will” group used such a device when it planned to bomb the courthouse in Larissa, where  November 17 members were to be transferred. The bomb went off prematurely though when a woman from Florina accidentally called the number’s old user.

At Korydallos prison, and as shocking as this sounds, the terrorist Group "Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire" confirmed Xiros' plans for their grand escape. According to ProtoThema, Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire (Synomosia ton Pirinon tis Fotias) wrote a text from inside Korydallos prison confirming plans for their escape organized in collaboration with fugitive terrorist Christodoulos Xiros that was captured last Saturday. The text, titled “It was worth a try…”, was posted online by the group that expresses its solidarity to “Manolis” (Xiros' alias) while with the Revolutionary November 17 terrorist organization.

Their note makes it clear that they will refuse to utter a word that would give information to the “enemy” and at the same time states that escape from prison was (and still is) the only goal of an anarchist urban guerrilla held hostage.

It should be reminded that Xiros’ plan was to blow up the walls of the 1st wing of Korydallos prison so that members of this particular (and dangerous) organization could escape. The counter-terrorism squad is convinced that this could have occurred with the help of at least eight more people who probably have the know-how in operating firearms and rockets.

Here is the full text as posted by ProtoThema:

   “It was worth a try…”
    We aren’t going to offer even a word that would unlock information to the enemy. Escape from prison is the only goal and destination of a revolutionary anarchist of the city being held hostage. The word ‘escape’ contains the condensed meaning of freedom that blows up prison walls that lock our souls. We, the hostages of the Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire, have never forgotten this word even though most have forgotten us. The judges condemned us to live for years as human shadows in locked buildings but they were unable to lock our disobedient desires.
    Each night, as our mind wanders, we escape to a world without jails, armed wardens and locked souls. And even though every morning, the prison guards keys return us to the cement reality of jail, we know that at some point our day will come and we’ll dream of our anarchy with open eyes. The glang-glang of the keyhole whistles our hate for prison every time it closes. Every failure, every arrest and every mistake strengthens our fortitude even more. And even if we fall three times, four times, we’ll get up.
    There is no victory or defeat, just struggle. We know that the anarchist urban guerrilla and the Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire is a battle against predictions. In this battle there may be lost weapons, explosives, hideouts, cars, money but all of them will be found again. What is never lost are the comrades who made us feel that our day will come so that we can say “goodbye” to prison without return.
    At these moments when the enemy is triumphant, we send our warmest conspiratorial smile to these wonderful people, without name, who are now wanted by the police authorities of law and order. For these wonderful people, without a name, we spell it out again, the constant promise: “The day will come.”
    STRENGTH AND SOLIDARITY TO THE PEOPLE WANTED IN THE CASE OF THE ATTEMPTED ESCAPE OF THE CONSPIRACY OF THE CELLS OF FIRE.
    The Lernaia Hydra of the Cells of Fire will not stop.
    The Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire will be back stronger than before.
    Jailed cell of the Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire
    Argyrou Panagiotis
    Polydoros Yiorgos
    Oikonomidou Olga
    Tsakalos Gerasimos
    Chatzimihelakis Haris
    Mavropoulos Theofilos
    Nikolopoulos Yiorgos
    Nikolopoulos Michalis
    Bolanos Damianos
    NOTHING IS OVER
    EVERYTHING IS CONTINUING

Meanwhile, it was announced that the weapons that police officials discovered after Xiros' arrest have not been used before. According to Greek press reports, the pistol that was found on Xiros as well as the three pistols and the eight Kalashnikov rifles confiscated in the hideout in the area of Anavissos (southern Attica) have not been used for any terrorist or other criminal act. This, in conjunction with armor piercing ammunition, has suggested to the police that Xiros may have developed ties with escaped criminal Vasilis Paleokostas. IT should be reiterated that Paleokostas, who spectacularly escaped from prison via helicopter, is said to have had ties with Nikos Maziotis.

When Xiros was arrested last Saturday he was carrying a Belgian or Hungarian-constructed Browning P35 9mm pistol, while the assault rifles are newer editions of the “classic” AK-47 and the ammunition (Magtech 9mm) and according to the same Greek news reports are used extensively at shooting rangers and by the Police. The same reports claim that many meters of instant fuse that was also recovered (with an expiration date of 2012) show that it may have been stolen from a mining operation. With this last detail in mind, note the same reports, police officials suspect that Xiros’ may have acquired the weapons from Greek criminals with Albanian suppliers.

Right after his capture, Xiros appeared in court, where a number of charges were brought against him.

He now faces the charges of:

•     Directing a terrorist organization
•     Forming a terrorist organization
•     Construction, supply and possession of explosive materials and bombs
•     Illegal possession of military-grade weapons and explosives
•     Illegal possession of penetrative and explosive ammunition
•     Forging an identity card
•     Violating residence restrictions
•     Illegal possession of firearms
•     Harboring a criminal

Sources - enikos, protothema, newsit, iefimerida, MEGA channel, SKAI tv.

Xiros Was Planning Attack At Korydallos Prison To Free Other Terrorists

Recaptured terrorist Christodoulos Xiros along with the mysterious woman who was helping harbor him at his Anavyssos hideout, the 30-year-old lieutenant of the group and seven to eight more people had been targeting Korydallos prison, where they hoped to free members of the terrorist organization known as Cells of Fire (Pyrines tis Fotias).
According to the latest information, the Greek police have managed to identify the woman who was using a fake id card under the name “Eleni Melani” and she is a resident of Palaio Faliro.

The 58-year-old Xiros who had been convicted to prison for multiple life terms for crimes he committed as a member of the Revolutionary 17 November Organization (17N) was escorted to the investigator’s office on Monday at 13.00 am.

Pending results of the ballistic examination of the eight Kalashnikovs found in the terrorist’s hideout, Counterterrorism analysts estimate that they may come across interesting “surprises,” not ruling out the possibility of a connection between Xiros and the Popular Fighters guerrilla group, allegedly related to Nikos Maziotis.

According to the analysts’ estimates, an operation to free the Cells of Fire members from Wing A at Korydallos prison would require at least eight people with knowledge of handling weapons and rockets. These people are probably uncaptured members of the terrorist organization and include the person who acted as the link between Xiros and the criminal groups that sold him the weapons.

Xiros himself is believed to have been responsible for the construction of a 100 kilo bomb that would tear down Korydallos prison walls. As for the mystery woman who was helping harbor the convicted terrorist, she may have been the driver of the group planning the attack.

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Greek Police Arrest Wanted Terrorist Christodoulos Xiros - BREAKING NEWS

Wanted fugitive Christodoulos Xiros, one of leading members of the notorious November 17 terrorist organization was arrested on Saturday afternoon by Greek police officials. According to one news report on defencenet, authorities tracked him down in the area of Anavissos, (south of Athens).

The report claims that authorities were keeping a close eye on a home in that area that was apparently harbouring Xiros and this is what eventually led to his arrest.

It should be reminded that Christodoulos Xiros was sentenced to life imprisonment after he failed to return to jail in December 2013 after being given a nine-day prison leave.

During the time of his arrest, he was wearing a blond wig and was carrying a weapon. According to the report on defencenet, Xiros, who had also grown a beard, did not present any signs of resistance when arrested.

Following his arrest he was led to the counter-terrorism unit and he will later be taken before a prosecutor.

A few minutes after the story broke, Public Order Minister Vasilis Kikilias congratulated the Greek Police for a job well done.

Formed in the mid seventies, the November 17 terrorist organization is apparently responsible for the assassination of 23 people, while it also committed more than 100 attacks against various targets around Greece. The organization was (supposedly) disbanded in 2002, when a number of its members, including Xiros, were arrested.

Sources in Greek - defencenet, protothema, enikos, newsit, youtube

Heavy sentences for members of Conspiracy of Fire terrorist group

An Athens criminal court on Monday sentenced 15 young people accused of being members of terrorist group Conspiracy of Fire with sentences that range anywhere from five to 25 years. Some of the members had already been convicted of other crimes, a report on the online To Vima news service said.

Three of the accused received 25 years in jail; another three members were sentenced to 24 years and 2 months; one member was sentenced to 21 years and 9 months; one other to 20 years; another member to 19 years; another member to 16 years in absentia; two other members were sentenced to 14 years; one to 6 years; and finally one member was sentenced to only five years.

One member, a woman, was acquitted of being part of the organization, but was sentenced to six years as an accessory to several counts of weapons possession and a 16th defendant, male, was also acquitted of membership in the terrorist organization but received 6 months (suspended for three years), for the misdemeanor of a weapon possession.

Car loaded with explosives suddenly explodes on “Attiki Odos”

A car that appears to have been loaded with explosives suddenly exploded on the Attiki Odos motorway in Attica early on Monday morning, according to a report from Mega Channel tv. As a result, one person died while eye witnesses claim that the co-driver of the car was injured and rushed to hospital.

The car was apparently heading towards the Athens International Airport, when it exploded at about 7:30, near the police building on the motorway.

The state television network NERIT cited police sources noting that a preliminary investigation revealed a crater beneath the car, suggesting that explosions were involved.

Source in Greek - newsbomb

FOCUS BALKANS - Great Albania project via economic unification

By Ioannis Michaletos (RIMSE.gr) - The so-called "Great Albania" project, which is merely the unification of Albanian scattered populations in the Balkans, is being sought after by a variety of often conflicting in between them, nationalistic circles, with little chances of success.

Nevertheless, "mainstream" personalities and organizations are following a more methodical and gradual approach which places value into "economic integration" of the Albanian communities that will subsequently evolve into a political union. Interested parties and in that case most Balkan countries, should take notice, because the plan is in full swing and is fervently supported by Turkey, which estimates that this project will ultimately benefit itself, although that remains to be seen.

A well-researched story by the Southeastern European Times in January 2014, reported that "Kosovo and Albania signed an agreement for co-operation and strategic partnership, enabling the two governments to implement joint political, socio-economic and cultural policies.....A new energy agreement was reached to build a 110-kilowatt transmission line as part of an effort to create an energy highway between the two states, following a similar agreement last month to build a 400-kilowatt power transmission line." Energy integration plays a key role also in the sector of the proposed natural gas pipeline "Trans-Adriatic" (TAP) and its Western Balkan spur "Ionian Adriatic Pipeline" (IAP).

Both are scheduled to pass through Albania, the first traversing Westwards to Italy and the latter northwards to Montenegro and Kosovo, before eventually reaching up to Croatia. Although Albania does not possess any gas market of infrastructure, its potential consumer & purchase base is miniscule, and the path of the pipelines will face great financial costs due to the rugged physical environment along with the lack of local expertise; nevertheless, after intense lobbying by Tirana the route was decided to cover that country as well before spreading elsewhere. Thus an energy link of importance will play a key role in any further discussion regarding the Great Albania project.

Furthermore regarding a joint Albanian economic space that would be the primary basis for unification, the Albanian Konfindustria threw first the idea of an Albanian regional market in 2008, whereas the idea about a common economic space between Albania and Kosovo was enacted by Kosovo government officials in 2011. They were reinforced especially by Behgjet Pacolli in some of his speeches in Albania: Pacolli claimed that the economic union would increase competition towards the EU. Pacolli's ideas were endorsed by the Party for Justice, Integration and Unity.

Nowadays the Rama Administration, despite the fact that is battling myriads of internal problems and disputes, is actively promoting the common space having in mind an eventual overthrow of the so-called "old guard" in Kosovo and its replacement with "moderate & Europeanized" politicians that will use this joint space as a main argument for both to join the EU at the same time.

The Albanian Premier himself stated, quite interestingly in his official visit to Belgrade-that was characterized by a show off of hyper nationalistic sentiment" that Tirana and Pristina are striving for an economic union that will be materialized by 2016 and make borders between those two invisible.

The issue of importance here is who is going to call the shots, from 2016 onwards when and if crucial projects such as TAP-IAP and electricity interconnectors are in place. The Kosovo society is more traditionally formed in both societal and political structures with kinships of endurance to the most Northern parts of Albania and those in Montenegro. On the contrary the Tirana proper is becoming "Westernized" and in a bad sense in a fast mode, having formed its own "internationalist elite “which tends to focus more on becoming well-connected with soft power structures, whilst the South is fully dependent on Greece and Italy both on economic and on cultural and political levels.

Thus a key point arises that will play a significant role on where things are heading and if the Great Albania project may become instead of a unifying platform for the Albanian populations; rather an issue of division between all these different segments that are also inexorably related to wider geopolitical spheres of influence.

Turkey by itself is trying along with its "Neo-Ottoman" policy, to enact an even stronger role in the Albanian territories, so as to use them as a strong card vis-a-vis its relations both with the EU, Russia and USA and of course with its bilateral antagonisms with Greece, Serbia and even Bulgaria. Apart from the religious factor and cultural entities that have been formed-and discussed widely in previous articles- Turkey is well-placed in an economic level, It already controls the international Pristina airport that was inaugurated by P.M. Erdogan himself, whilst Turkish Enka construction corporation is a major contractor of the highway Pristina-Tirana, an infrastructure of great geo-economic importance for the issue at hand, that its costs may well exceed 2 billion USD.

In the meantime Turkish companies are vying for the control of the container terminal of Durres, which is all plans aforementioned are materialized, it will become the de facto commercial outlet of the whole of Kosovo, thus the likely owners will have a significant impact in all trade, including the perennial  thriving illicit transnational sectors.

The official data on the Turkish foreign ministry's database are very interesting in showcasing Ankara's commitment to Albania. Therefore we can pin point the following:

Turkey is the second major trade partner of Albania.

The total value of Turkish investments in Albania is over 1 billion Euros.

• -Construction and building materials: ENKA, Gintaş, Armada, Metal Yapı, Aldemir, Servomatik 
• -Telecommunications: Çalık Holding/Türk Telekom, Makro-Tel/Hes Kablo 
• -Banking: Çalıkbank/Şekerbank-BKT 
• -Iron and Steel Industry: Kürüm 
• -Health: Universal Hospital Group - Mining: Ber-Oner, Dedeman, 
• -Manufacturing / Consumer goods retail: Yilmaz Cable, Merinos, Everest, Pino, RM Kocak 
• -Education: Gülistan Foundation, Istanbul Foundation, Epoka University 
• -Transportation: Albanian Airlines (Evsen Group) 

On a security/defense levels, of interest are:  Teams assigned by the Turkish Land, Naval and Air Forces have been training Albanian Armed Forces and supporting them in logistics and modernization aspects, while Albanian soldiers assigned to Afghanistan within NATO framework are serving their mandate within the Turkish troops deployed in this geography.

Moreover, financial assistance in military terms if being provided by Turkey to both Albania and Kosovo, along with SOF training and there is continuous and frequent intelligence services exchange of information for a wide range of issues. Of importance is a recent visit in November 2014 of the chairman of the Turkish Parliament to Tirana where he spoke of "special bonds" between the two countries and the "Balkans are a territory vulnerable to the mighty nations, thus Turkish-Albania cooperation fosters both to be stronger... and many wonder who is the name of the country that is causing both problems, but you all know about" leaving a lot of questioning, who is the mighty country that affects both countries that in turns makes them to cooperate even stronger.

In fact taking into account that the Western Balkan territory is effectively out of the "Euro-Atlantic" structures, the basis of Turkish policy looks like is to fill this gap with its own presence, playing upon the traditional fears of the Albanian society on exclusion and as being on the sidelines of both Balkan and European history.

The coming years, will be crucial for the materialization of all the above and eventually geopolitical tendencies will culminate to a boiling points, since the region is used in forming and dissolving confederations often in a bloody manner. Time will tell on which direction things are moving along and greater attention should be placed by all interested parties in the situation unfolding, as well as, into the analytical prospective on things, since there are extremely few people globally that comprehend on a practical level the "mentalité" of the Albanian communities and the inner workings that take place.

In most respects the EU is out of the picture when it concerns having the necessary human capital to understand the "undercurrents" of history shaping form at present day and how "small things coming out of the Balkans” can really shake up the entire Continent. History has proved that it does not teach lessons, despite continuous repetitions of the same motive and in the same more or less territory.

Threat Of A Bomb at SYRIZA Offices Turns Out To Be A Hoax

A man called the headquarters of main opposition party SYRIZA party in central Athens to warn that there was a bomb in the building. Following the threat, the offices of SYRIZA were quickly evacuated and the area was sealed off.

The anti-terror squad was called on the scene and after conducting a relevant search they announced that the whole scare was nothing more than a hoax.

Ho ho ho... bomb threats are not funny!

Bulgarian & Greek authorities search for missing Bulgarian security chief

Senior Bulgarian law enforcement officials held talks with Greek officials this past week in an effort to locate a former national security head Petko Sertov, who suddenly went missing.

According to reports from Bulgaria, on December 5th, Sertov left his home in Sofia, leaving behind his two mobile phones and his international passport. He then apparently drew cash and climbed into a car heading in the direction of Greece. Video footage appears to confirm that he crossed the Bulgarian-Greek border.

His disappearance was reported by Sertov’s wife on December 6th and a missing person case that has prompted headlines in Bulgarian media for a fortnight got underway.

An alert declaring Sertov a missing person has been posted by Interpol.

Source: Sofia Globe

PROVOCATION - Greek-Turkish Dogfight Over Aegean

A challenging dogfight accompanied by a dozen or so of violations over the Aegean were performed today by the Turkish Air Force. Specifically six Turkish F-16, two of which were fully loaded, illegally entered Greek air space and challenged the Hellenic Air Force by attempting to cause a virtual showdown (but at the same time also check their readiness).

The dogfight occurred North-West of Lesvos. According to the military news site defencenet, two Greek Mirage 2000-5 that had taken off from the island of Skyros came face to face with two fully armed Turkish F-16s that had taken off from Bali Kesir.

The dogfight began at 20,000 feet and then reached 10,000 feet, lasting only five minutes but our skillful pilots did us proud and the pushed back the Turkish planes towards the Turkish coast, or to the limits of Greece's FIR.

Senior officers of the Hellenic Air Force who monitored the dogfight said that the men who were flying the Mirage 2000-5s from the 331st Squadron had "an easy day today."

Reference in Greek - defencenet

Turkish gov't arrests media chiefs in latest assault on free speech

Ekrem Dumannli, the chief editor of Zaman, Turkey’s biggest selling newspaper, cried "we are not scared" after he and other journalists were detained by police over terrorism allegations. The following article is an analysis of the recent arrests of many media agents in Turkey from the Erdogan government who it claims work on behalf of his rival Gulen. The article is from James Smart at the PressProject. To get a better understanding of the rift between Gulen and Erdogan HellasFrappe suggests that you also read the background to this story by clicking HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE.

By James Smart (Press-Project) - It must have been quite a memorable Sunday afternoon for the locals. Four Turkish police officers briskly walked through the security gates at the offices of Zaman - Turkey's biggest selling newspaper, situated in the working-class suburb of Şirinevler, with a helicopter flying overhead and water cannon vehicles behind.

Surrounding them were 3-4000 protesters - some loyal Zaman readers, others there to defend the free press, who themselves had been tipped off and were also in present in large numbers.

     "Free media cannot be silenced" the crowd chanted as the police walked through the door, not stopping until shortly later when they came back out escorting the newspaper's Chief Editor Ekrem Dumanlı, having failed to breach the crowd at 7.15 that morning. Let those who have committed a crime be scared," Mr Dumanli said as he was ushered away with the police. 'we are not scared'.
     “The detentions have been ordered in order to take their testimonies on charges of founding and directing an armed terror organization, being a member of this organization, and engaging in forgery and slander,” said a statement released by the Istanbul Chief Prosecuters office later that day.

But the protesters believe this is merely another purge on the ever-shrinking media that is prepared to criticise the government.

Dumanli wasn't the only target. Around thirty-one people were detained, mostly other media chiefs, a TV scriptwriter, a TV show director, and a handful of former police chiefs who are suspected if having links to Hizmet, an organisation in confrontation with the AKP government.

Briefly, Hizmet is a popular and somewhat secretive movement founded by Fetullah Gulen, an elderly preacher in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania. Gulen preaches a brand of Islam that many Turks find agreeable, emphasising use of modern technology, moderation, interfaith dialogue, and promoting Turkishness.

The foundation operates schools and universities in over 140 countries and has other investments in health clinics, finance and media - including publications such as Zaman.

For ten years, Gulen's movement colluded with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's AKP government, proving particularly useful on the campaign trail. Gulen and Erdogan shared the same enemies and it seems that Gulenists in the police and judiciary may have assisted the AKP government by finding ways of putting political foes behind bars.

While the current government used to be happy enough to see their political enemies framed, they are now charging Gulenists in the police and judiciary with fabricating evidence. To understand the reason for this reversal, we need to explore the fading relationship between Gulen and Erdoğan.

From mid-2010, relations deteriorated between the Hizmet movement and the AKP to the extent that the AKP closed down part of the Hizmet operation in Turkey, and continues to work on this.

On their part, Gulenists were able to use their positions in the police and intelligence services to uncover and publicise a series of recordings that showed Erdoğan, his son, and his cabinet knee-deep in corruption. Four ministers were forced to resign, but the government emerged somewhat discredited but largely unscathed. Since then, Gulen has been accused of running a parallel state.

     "I want my dear nation to know that we are not just faced with a simple network, but one which is a pawn of national and international evil forces," said Erdoğan on Friday.
     "We have gone into their lairs, and we will go into them again.”
     “Whoever is beside them and behind them, we will bring down this network and bring it to account".

So, the tables have turned, and Gulenists are now the terrorists.

Is this a simple case then of a feud spiralling out of control?

Ozgur Kuçuk is a journalist for Zaman newspapers. "make no mistake" he says. "these arrests are nothing to do with animosity between Gulen and Erdogan per se. Erdoğan goes after anybody who criticises him publically. He goes after journalists who criticise him, and has them sent to jail".

With an estimated forty journalists currently languishing behind bars, Turkey is the world's biggest jailer of journalists. According to Reporters without Borders, Turkey lies 154th out of 180 countries in terms of press freedom. To avoid jail, most media outlets self-censor, disciplining and firing media workers who are critical of the government.

To avoid these pitfalls, some Turks post anonymously using blogs and fake twitter accounts. Turkey's most celebrated media outlaw is probably 'Fuat Avni', who claims to have close connections to Erdogan's inner circle, and regularly tweets warnings about operations against the public. This account tipped off the public about this Sunday's arrests, with a list of all those due to be arrested, and even the police officers responsible with each arrest, which were originally due to take place with an element of surprise on Friday.

Fuat initially tweeted that around 140 journalists were to be detained, with 400 citizens to be arrested in total. By Sunday, this had been revised. "Operations against mainstream and liberal journalists will not take place - for now".

The timing of these arrests are interesting. A new law was put in place only on Friday making it easier to arrest and detain citizens. And it is almost exactly a year to the day when police - presumably Gulenists - went after Erdoğan and his cabinet with audio evidence of corruption. Then, as now, reaction was fierce and relentless, with prosecutors, police and journalists moved or fired by the thousands.

Furthermore, last December the government had been easily able to placate much of the public by claiming they had been victim of a 'montage' - claiming that the recordings had been faked, as part of a campaign of dirty tricks. And this government is no stranger to dirty tricks.

During the Gezi Park protests in the summer of 2013, undercover police acting as agent provocateurs quite clearly threw a series of molotov cocktails at police water cannons, which in turn fired unusually inaccurate water cannon back near the provocateurs.

It was only because the campaign was conducted in such an amateurish manner that it was clearly not the actions of real protesters but of a police force needing an excuse to continue their heavy-handed campaign. Özgur Kuçuk thinks that further stunts may continue.

     "I predict" continues Kuçuk, "undercover intelligence officers will try to gain access to journalists, to pose as Gulenists and elicit responses that will act as evidence against them in court".

Ostensible, the Hizmet movement is being accused of fabricating evidence to put their rivals in jail. However, Erdoğan's attitude towards the media over the past few years leads many to suspect that this is another excuse to keep a critical media ever more silent.

     "Once again, President Erdoğan has shown he will embrace extreme measures to silence dissident voices. He believes in a compliant press, not a free press," said CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists) spokesperson Simon Rowe on Sunday.

Criticism of the government's position continues to come under fire from all corners. The lira slumped today as nervous investors pulled out their money.

Emma Sinclair-Webb, a senior Turkey researcher at Human Rights Watch, echoes Rowe's concerns.“The detention of journalists and editors in the context of this latest wider operation of arrests looks like another attempt to crack down on critical media,” she said.

The EU also chimed in: "The police raids and arrests of a number of journalists and media representatives in Turkey today are incompatible with the freedom of media, which is a core principle of democracy," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said in a joint statement.

Anybody who observes Erdoğan though, knows he can always be relied on to fight fire with fire.

      "The EU should mind its own business and keep its own opinions to itself," he declared. 

Turkey's President cares little for what outsiders have to say, at least publically. He may occasionally back down, but very quietly. Openly, he battles hard and nonstop. His supporters enjoy this streetfighter image, and tend to believe his various accusations of foreign plots. The opposition remain weak, largely because there isn't much historical evidence that they would behave any better if they were in power. Meanwhile the economy is weakening but on a visible level the country continues to modernise on many levels. Erdoğan still seems invincible.

He continues "We gave a promise to Ekrem (Dumanlı) - taking away editors will change nothing. We will print this paper even better. You can detain as many people as you want. Nothing will change here".

This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso and its partners and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. The project's page: Safety Net for European Journalists. A Transnational Support Network for Media Freedom in Italy and South-east Europe

Rising trends in Greek Organized Crime - MUST READ

The following report is a brief overview of the rising trends in Greek organized crime with regional implications, which was released by geopolitical expert Ioannis Michaletos on his RIMSE news site. According to him, the emergence of imported radical, fringe and niche groups, most notably motorcycle clubs dealing with protections rackets, cocaine distribution and sex trafficking, as well as the amalgamation of Middle Eastern groups specialized in human smuggling-illegal immigration are two of the leading trends in Greek organized crime at the present moment.

by Ioannis Michaletos
RIMSE.gr

RISING TRENDS:

1. Emergence of imported radical, fringe and niche groups, most notably motorcycle clubs dealing with protections rackets, cocaine distribution and sex trafficking. Transnational links in development as far as Canada and USA.
2. Amalgamation of Middle Eastern groups specialized in human smuggling-illegal immigration
3. Convergence of political radicals and domestic terrorists with existing organized criminal groups-joint operations especially in the sector of armed robberies
4. Expansion of cyber, electronic and telecommunication organized illicit schemes and of regional nature of collaboration
5. Use of Greece and in particular ports, not only as a transit zone for contraband commodities such as tobacco and counterfeits but also as hubs of actions (Turkish groups, Albanian, Chinese) and assumingly as headquarters in EU level (Georgians)
6. Gradual spread of organized criminal structures also in the countryside and afar from major urban centers
7. Loan sharking and usurer structures expanding, coupled with elaborate money laundering schemes
8. Convergence of Greek and Albanian organized crime structures, especially in the field of hired contract killers from the latter
9. Stronger collaboration in an extensive reach of organized illegal activities between Greek and Turkish networks. Predominance in illegal immigration, tobacco smuggling, counterfeit products and narcotics

Countermeasures in term of state structure
The Greek state is coming in terms with a significant increase of organized crime in the country, which appears to be of international nature and linked to powerful local and foreign elements, encompassing an extensive spectrum of illegal activities.

The following are the key state security structures that combat the phenomena as described above

DIRECT COMBAT

Organized Crime Police security sub-directory:

• 1st unit: Intelligence and strategy unit that collects and analyzes relevant information and conducts the operations.
• 2nd unit: Corroboration and categorization unit that verifies information and coordinates activities
• 3rd unit: Specialized sex trafficking unit that combats the whole range of that illicit sector, including minors protection
• 4th unit: Witness protection unit

Presently the aforementioned sub-directory will be transformed into an all-encompassing "Service for the combat of organized, financial and electronic crime", equipped with new resources and personnel, as well as, financing.

• - National intelligence service: Collecting and disseminating intelligence of organized crime activities in close collaboration with the Police and Coast Guard through dedicated unit.
• - Coast Guard: State security directory and anti-narcotics units dealing with organized crime, specialized in the maritime sector

INDIRECT COMBAT

• - Anti-terrorist directory of Police, dealing with domestic and international terrorism but with multiple cases where blurred lines with organized criminal networks exist.
• - Directory for state security of Police, dealing with threats against the state order, but with multiple cases where state structures are affected by organized criminal activities
• - Directory of Internal affairs of Police, dealing with corruption in the state, consequently reaching cases dealing with organized crime activities

Gunmen Open Fire Against Israeli Embassy in Athens - BREAKING

credit defencenet

Unknown gunmen fired at the Israeli embassy in Athens early on Friday morning, press reports said. The incident occurred at 03.15  in the area of Psyxhico (an Athens suburb), according to one report on the news site defencenet.

The report says that unknown gunmen sped by the Embassy from Stokos Street and opened fire at the Embassy with Kalashnikov rifles. No injuries were reported, but the site claims that there are slight damages to the building because of the shooting.

Greek authorities rushed to the scene and sealed off the area. The news site claims that authorities have found 15 shells from a Kalashnikov rifle, but an ongoing investigation is underway to identify the perpetrators.

The Hellenic Police feared that there would be hit and escalation of events following the recent protests in Athens by radical leftist anarchists in Exarchia for Alexandros Grigoropoulos as well as a bomb attack at a bank in Halandri.

The incident is very similar to that against the German Ambassador in Halandri *over a year ago) which was made by the "Popular Fighters' terrorist organization (Λαϊκοί Αγωνιστές). In that attack four masked gunmen used two Kalashnikov rifles and fired almost 60 rounds of ammunition.

The same terrorist organization is also believed to be responsible for the the attack against the offices of the New Democracy party on Syggrou Avenue, and the failed rocket attack against a car dealership in Varibobi.

HellasFrappe will be following the announcements in the Greek press for any developments, please check back later on today for more updates.

Reference in Greek - defencenet