The latest instance of gangland violence attributed to Turkey-based crime syndicates came on Monday in the southeast Ano Glyfada district, with the victims – two in this instance – Turkish nationals.
The deadly incident marked the fourth time in the last 14 months that shootings, all in broad daylight, claimed the lives of Turkish nationals, most identified as ethnic Kurds. One man was seriously injured in the latest incident, when a gunman opened fire against the trio at a betting parlor and after they fled to a nearby toy store and supermarket.
Two foreign nationals, also Turks, were later detained in the same area by motorcycle police in relation with the assassination. Later in the evening they were charged and arrested for the attack.
The injured man, 32, was rushed to a nearby hospital with a gunshot wound in the abdominal area. His condition was described as particularly serious.
Police later recovered a handgun and jacket purportedly belonging to the gunman in a nearby garden of an uninhabited residence.
Α video aired on the prime-time newscast of Mega Channel shows the gunman heading towards the victims:
Authorities eye ‘settling of scores’ between rival Turkish crime gangs
According to Greek authorities, the incident has all the hallmarks of another “settling of scores” by members of rival Turkish crime gangs that have fled to Greece – either via legal entrance to the country or in an illegal manner. Some of latter have also claimed asylum as persecuted Kurds of Gulenists.
Similar and even more egregious instances of violence attributed to the same four or five gangs have been recorded in western Europe, particularly Germany and Belgium.
Police sources in Athens said rival gangs attempt to locate antagonists through the latter’s social media posts, often staking out locations frequented by the latter.
Another media report in Athens cites recent cooperation between Greek and Turkish intelligence agencies over the activity of organized crime networks smuggling drugs and weapons as well as money laundering between Turkey and Europe.
A similar and deadly shootout last June at a super market port city of Piraeus. One man was killed and another was seriously injured inside a supermarket near the Zea Marina in the heart of Piraeus.
One of the two alleged gunmen involved in the shootings was reportedly arrested shortly thereafter by police, while a weapon was recovered.
Last week, motorcycle police officers arrested four Turkish nationals, also Kurds, riding in a vehicle in central Athens after a routine traffic stop. Firearms and clubs were found in the vehicle, raising concerns that they were headed to kill a rival blamed for the Piraeus incident.
The worst instance of violence attributed to Turkish criminal networks came in early October 2023 when the bodies of six Turkish men were found inside a car in a semi-rural area of the Artemida township, east of Athens proper.
One man, identified as a 32-year-old Turkish national, was later arrested and charged with planned and executing a “contract killing” after misleading the victims into believing he was working to smuggle them to Italy.
Another man, also a Turkish national, was arrested days later in a south Athens district and charged as an accomplice.
