Terrorism in Greece: Establishment and Ideological Background

09/12/2003

Analysts say terrorism in Greece was rooted in the social unrest and the political situation at the time.

By Dimitris Agrafiotis for Southeast European Times in Athens - 09/12/03

The seven-year Greek military junta -- between 1967 and 1974 -- was a period that radicalised segments of Greek youth, which was responsible for engendering "revolutionary" approaches to dealing with the post-junta political environment. The reaction of Greek society to the ultra right dictators took on different aspects. These included the revival of old political confrontations, a general unrest, and a tendency towards violent reaction against the totalitarian regime. It was the period that political groups of the left and leftist origins opted for an armed struggle.

Although the fall of the dictatorship in 1974 ushered in a constitutional democratic regime, some of the radical groups decided to carry on their struggle against the newborn political system.

The origins of Greek terrorism date back to the 1960's in France, where Greek university students came to the conclusion that the only way to fight the dictators was through an armed struggle. After the fall of the military junta, some of these people decided to carry on their fight, based on an ideology, which was a vague and unstructured mixture of Trotskyist, Maoist, Leninist, Marxist, and Guevarist ideals.

In 1974 and 1975, terrorism emerged in Greece. The domestic political situation and sympathies for the rhetoric of the left within Greek society were the fundamental reasons behind the terrorists' decision to initiate lethal activities.

The transformation of leftist groups into terrorist organisations was no simple process. The different ideological factions and their disagreements led to the fragmentation of the revolutionary movement. ELA and November 17 were the main poles that attracted cadres of the revolutionary left. Although the two organisations had similar ideological foundations, their approaches to terrorism were different, and this led to their divergence.

Alexandros Giotopoulos, the alleged leader of November 17, was in favour of a "conspiratorial armed group" that would strike at fundamental elements of the social, political, and economic life in Greece. The main characteristic of this kind of organisation is the small number of members, the selection of targets of special significance, and the avoidance of mass casualties. After a thorough study of November 17 attacks, it is obvious that the targets represented a socio-political status, which was opposed to the ideology of the terrorists.

Major terrorist attacks of November 17

-23/12/75: Assassination of US government official in Athens, Richard Welch

-14/12/76: Assassination of former policeman Evangelos Mallios.

-16/1/80: Assassination of Police Deputy Commander Pantelis Petrou and his driver Sotiris Stamoulis.

-15/11/83: Assassination of US Navy Captain George Tsantes and his driver Nikos Veloutsos

-3/4/84: Attempt of murder of US soldier, Sergeant Robert Chand.

-21/2/85: Assassination of editor Nikos Momferatos and his driver Panagiotis Rousetis

-26/11/85: Bombing of police bus, one policeman dead, 25 people wounded

-8/4/86: Assassination of industrialist Dimitris Aggelopoulos

-24/4/87: Bombing of a US Air Force bus. 16 American soldiers wounded

-1/3/88: Assassination of the industrialist Alexandros Athanasiadis - Mpodosakis

-29/6/88: Bombing of the Naval Attaché of the US Embassy, Captain William Nordeen

-10/1/89: Public prosecutor Konstantinos Androyljda'kis is gravely wounded, dies days later

-18/1/89: Judge Panagiotis Tarasouleas is wounded in the legs

-8/5/89: Attempted murder of the former minister of Public Order, Giorgos Petsos

-16/9/89: Assassination of the deputy of New Democracy, Pavlos Bakogiannis.

-25/12/89: November 17 obtains a number of antitank rockets from Sykourio military camp in Larissa

-20/11/90: Attempted murder of Vardis Vardinoyannis with three rockets

-16/12/90: Two rockets fired at the offices of the EEC

-12/3/91: Murder of US soldier, Sergeant Ronald Stewart.

-16/7/91: Murder of Turkish diplomat Denis Bouloukbasi

-7/10/91: Assassination of assistant attaché of Press of the Turkish Embassy in Athens, Tsetin Gorkou

-2/11/91: Rocket attack on police bus. One policeman killed, 6 wounded.

-14/7/92: Rocket attack on the car of Finance Minister Yannis Palaiokrasa. A student, Thanos Axarlian, is killed.

-21/12/1992: Attempted murder ofthe deputy of New Democracy L. Papadimitriou

-24/1/1994: Assassination of the former Director-General of National Bank of Greece Michalis Vranopoulos

-4/7/1994: Assassination of Turkish diplomat Omer Sipahioglou

-15/2/1996: Rocket attack on the US Embassy in Athens

-28/5/1997: Murder of ship owner Kostas Peratjkos in Piraeus

-16/5/1999: Rocket attack on the residence of the German ambassador in Athens

-8/6/2000: Assassination of British military attaché, Brigadier Steven Saunders