Greek military leadership changes spark opposition outcry
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As Greek politics grew ever more chaotic strong political protests erupted as the government moved to replace military chiefs with officers seen as more supportive of George Papandreou, the prime minister.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/f...on-outcry.html
17N: a terror group without arrests for 27years
The Greek terrorist group 17N or 'Revolutionary Organization 17 November' was remarkable for eluding detection for so long, twenty seven years from foundation in 1975 and the first, critical arrests in 2002. Wikipedia shows:
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The group assassinated 23 people[3] in 103 attacks on U.S., British, Turkish and Greek targets.
Link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolut...on_17_November
A new, exceptionally well reviewed book has been published 'Inside Greek Terrorism' by George Kassimeris, this comment is by Bruce Hoffman:
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This is both an important and a timely work, especially given the recent re-emergence of extremist violence in Greece. Kassimeris is without any doubt the leading analyst today on Greek violent extremism and one of the leading younger scholars in the field of terrorism and political violence.
From the publisher's website:
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The long story of Greek terrorism was meant to have ended in the summer of 2002 with the collapse of the country’s premier terrorist organisation and one of Europe’s longest-running gangs, the notorious 17 November group (17N). However, rather than demoralising and emasculating the country’s armed struggle movement, the dismantling of 17N and the imprisonment of its members led to the emergence of new urban guerrilla groups and an upsurge in and intensification of revolutionary violence.
Given the sheer longevity of the 17N terrorist experience, George Kassimeris sets out to analyse the life histories of the group’s imprisoned members. Their stories, told through their own words, offer us a clearer picture than we have ever had of the political and ideological environment that provided the foundations upon which revolutionary terrorism took root in the mid-1970s. This book also brings up to date the gritty story of Greek terrorism by analysing the country’s post-17N generation of urban guerrilla groups, placing their extremism and violence in a broader political and cultural perspective.
Link to publisher's website:http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=...8&e=80d42c7c0a
New Dawn is not about to bloom this Spring?
Greece has a long history of what many regard as extremist political activity and in recent years a new political party, New Dawn, has emerged on the right, gaining electoral support - with MPs elected - and street-level activity.
Now it appears under judicial direction New Dawn is being investigated and maybe banned:http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...eece-neo-nazis
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Last week one Golden Dawn MP resigned, citing ignorance of the party's activities. Another was expelled after indicating that he, too, was about to leave.....The loss of its deputies reduces to 16 the number of seats the neo-Nazis control in the 300-member house – although nine MPs already face charges and six have been jailed pending trial. In February (the judicial figures) Klapa and Dimitropoulou proposed that politicians lift the immunity of another nine MPs who have so far escaped prosecution. A parliamentary vote is expected in the coming weeks.
Alexis Tsipras looks to Moscow but risks becoming Putin’s useful idiot
An article in The Guardian, the author is unknown to me and her mini bio says:
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She was previously executive editor and managing editor of Le Monde.
This article could sit in the more active thread on Russian flirting if not subversive activities with the extreme right and nationalists in democratic Europe. See Posts 64 onwards:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...t=20681&page=4
Since it is about Greece it is here:http://www.theguardian.com/commentis...-useful-idiot?
Greece’s Most-Wanted Terrorist, on Run Since 2012, Is Arrested and Charged
Hurrah:
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On Friday, the anarchist leader, Panagiota Roupa, was charged with theft, forgery and participating in a terrorist organization.
Greek officials called Ms. Roupa, 47 — known by her nickname, Pola — the country’s “No. 1 most-wanted” terrorist. With her partner, Nikos Maziotis, she was a leader of Revolutionary Struggle, which carried out a string of bombings and shootings targeting the police and others starting in 2003, and
fired an antitank grenade at the United States Embassy in Athens in 2007. The attacks caused several injuries, but no deaths.
Link:http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/05/world/europe/panagiota-roupa-arrested-athens.html?
Greece’s Most-Wanted Terrorist: an update
For the original pointer see Post No.15 on this terrorist and a new commentary by a Greek academic (based in the UK) who has written on Greek terrorism. The main article is behind a pay wall, but I use the Abstract:
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Pola Roupa’s arrest in 2016 was the final nail in the coffin of Revolutionary Struggle, the first guerrilla group to emerge on Greece’s terrorist landscape after the 2002 collapse of 17 November, the country’s premier terrorist organisation for almost three decades and one of Europe’s longest-running terror gangs. Drawing on the judicial investigation findings, courtroom testimonies, RS communiqués and interviews with counter-terrorism officials, this article tells the story of Pola Roupa, the first female leader of a Greek terrorist group in an attempt to understand the political reasons and motivational factors that led to her involvement in terrorism. At the same time, the article hopefully contributes to the study and understanding of women and terrorism by providing an insight into the role and experience of a female militant inside Greece’s gender-conservative and overwhelmingly male-dominated armed struggle movement.
Link to main article:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/...nalCode=uter20
The commentary refers to longevity of Greek terrorist groups:
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Roupa’s arrest was the final nail in the coffin of RS, marking the end of a 15-year campaign of politically motivated violence by the first guerrilla group to emerge on the country’s terrorist landscape after the 2002 collapse of 17N, Greece’s premier terrorist organisation and one of Europe’s longest-running terror gangs.
Link:https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2...of-pola-roupa/