International terrorism thriller in Thessaloniki

A thriller with potential political implications has unfolded in Thessaloniki, after an explosion in a basement apartment in Triandria.

Information speaks of possibly Kurdish residents planning an attack on Greek soil. Therefore, a meeting between the Secretary of Citizen Protection, the Head of National Intelligence and the Director of the Counter-Terrorism Unit has been taking place since this afternoon.

An nvestigation has been launched by the CTU in an effort to determine who was hiding their arsenal in a specially hidden cache, and why. Initial evidence points to Kurdish armed groups. This case is complicated further by the element of a fatally injured man, who has been identified as a 32-year-old Kurd of Turkish nationality, suspected of belonging to the DHKP-C organization.

The apartment was rented by two other Kurds who had been implicated, along with a Turkish couple with a terrorist agenda, while the woman had a pending German arrest warrant.

During the investigation, a hidden cache within the apartment’s kitchen revealed:

- An anti-tank weapon armed with a projectile (M80 64mm)

- An AK74 sub-machine gun
- An AK assault rifle
- Two anti-personnel mines
- One Scorpion SMG
- One automatic rifle
- Two cases of 600 rounds of various calibers
- 14 grenade detonators
- Five kilos of an unknown substance
- Four assault and nine defensive grenades, without detonators
- Also found in the apartment were pieces of an exploded grenade, a grenade without a detonator and other items.

The case is classified as top national priority by Police officials since it concerns the actions of a foreign organization on Greek soil, and as such the Secretary of Citizen Protection Christos Papoutsis has been meeting with the heads of the National Intelligence Agency and the Counter-Terrorism Unit since this afternoon.

The possibility that Turkey might request explanations makes the Greek side cautious and careful in handling the affair so that there is no further tension in the relations between the two countries at this time.