Inside Greek Terrorism

189 Pages·2013·0.811 MB·English

by  George Kassimeris

INSIDE GREEK TERRORISM
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GEORGE KASSIMERIS
Inside Greek Terrorism
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kassimeris, George.
Inside Greek terrorism / George Kassimeris.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-933339-4 (alk. paper)
1. Epanastatike Organose 17 Noemvre—History. 2. Terrorism—Greece—History—
21st century. I. Title.
HV6433.G72K38 2013
363.32509495—dc23
2013014743
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in India
on acid-free paper
For you, Carolina Salinas
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Author’s Biography xi
1. Introduction 1
2. Greek Political Violence in Context 9
3. Guerrilla Leader: Dimitris Koufodinas and the
Revolutionary Organization 17 November (17N) 21
4. Exit 17N: Patroklos Tselentis and Sotiris Kondylis 37
5. Eternal Revolutionary: Christos Tsigaridas and the
Revolutionary Popular Struggle (ELA) 59
6. Greece’s New Generation of Terrorists: The Revolutionary
Struggle (RS) 77
7. Greece’s New Generation of Terrorists, Part 2: The Conspiracy
of Cells of Fire (CCF) 95
8. Conclusion 115
Appendix 1 123
Appendix 2 129
Appendix 3 135
Notes 137
Bibliography 163
Index 171
vii
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The greatest pleasure at the completion of a book is to thank publicly
those who have contributed directly or indirectly, in a major or minor
way, to its creation. My first debt—and it is a very large one—is to the
Leverhulme Trust, for awarding me a generous Research Fellowship, and
to the Nuffield Foundation and the British Academy for funding differ-
ent stages of the research on which this book is based. Without the finan-
cial support of these great British institutions, this project might not have
taken off the ground.
My second debt, equally large, is to Dimitris and Evgenia Afendoulis
for their forbearance, support and the truly extraordinary constancy of
their hospitality.
I am deeply grateful once again to my best friend, mentor and editor,
Carol Millwood, for her penetrating criticism, advice and her unfailing
support, especially at times of extreme pressure. This is the fourth book
we have done together, and I cannot imagine this process without her.
Richard Jackson and Marie Breen Smyth, friends, colleagues and fel-
low editors at the Critical Studies on Terrorism journal, offered me sup-
port, ideas and encouragement from the very earliest stages of the
project. I would also like to record my warmest gratitude to Ignacio
Sanchez-Cuenca and Peter Neumann who were extremely supportive
from the beginning. A series of long, fascinating conversations with
Richard Bond and Peppe Egger helped me to formulate some of the
arguments and ideas on which the book is based. I would also like to
thank Bruce Hoffman who enthusiastically supported and promoted
this project from the outset.
The University of Wolverhampton was consistently supportive of the
project and provided an excellent setting for thinking and writing. My
ix