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DE RUEHIK #0047/01 3101613
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 061613Z NOV 09
FM AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0481
INFO RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS 0356
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHIK/AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI 0524

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 THESSALONIKI 000047 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/SE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON PGOV PREL SMIG SNAR SOCI GR
SUBJECT: NORTHERN NOTES OCTOBER 2009 
 
REF: A) THESSALONIKI 072, B) THESSALONIKI 081, C) THESSALONIKI 036 
 
THESSALONI 00000047  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
Following is a summary of last month's major developments in 
Northern Greece: 
 
 
 
 
 
NATIONAL ELECTIONS:PASOK PREVAILS EMPHATICALLY IN NORTHERN 
GREECE, ABOLISHES MINISTRY OF MACEDONIA-THRACE 
 
 
 
¶1.     (U) Winner of this month's Greek national election PASOK 
(Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement) made substantial gains in 
traditionally conservative Northern Greece, too.  In Thrace, the 
two current Muslim MPs were re-elected with PASOK, while the 
decision by the far-right LAOS leader Georgios Katratzaferis to 
stand in the Prefecture of Rodopi (central Thrace) did not 
appear to influence results significantly.  In the Prefecture of 
Evros however (eastern Thrace, on the Greek-Turkish border), in 
an apparent reaction to the large numbers of illegal immigrants 
being smuggled into Greece through Turkey, LAOS elected an MP 
for the first time.  The new government decided to abolish the 
Ministry of Macedonia-Thrace and instead, move to Thessaloniki 
the Offices of the Deputy Minister of Finance and the Deputy 
Minister of Interior.  The initiative sparked an outcry from 
main opposition New Democracy, denouncing it as a "national 
retreat" on the name issue with neighboring Macedonia. 
 
 
 
MUSLIM MINORITY VOTE IN THRACE 
 
 
 
¶2.  (U) Media in Thrace reported that although two Muslim MPs 
were elected during the general election of October 4, the 
"minority leadership" was disappointed as it had hoped to elect 
as many as four.  Reports attributed the result to the fact that 
not as many Greek Muslims came from Turkey (where they currently 
reside) to vote, as were expected.  Also, not all Muslims voted 
for Muslim candidates, as was recommended to minority voters by 
the minority co-ordinating body "Consultative Committee of the 
Turkish Minority of Western Thrace."  Papers report that around 
"20%" of Muslims voted for Christian candidates.  In a 
post-election dinner hosted by the President of the Consultative 
Committee, Muslim candidates argued against the Committee's 
methods of "controlled voting" and advocated for the political 
emancipation of the minority. 
 
 
 
APPEALS COURT IN THRACE REJECTS TURKISH UNION OF XANTHI APPEAL 
 
 
 
 
¶3.  (SBU) On October 07, the Appeals Court in Thrace rejected 
the application by the local organization "Turkish Union of 
Xanthi" to be recognized and registered by that name.  The 
appeal followed an earlier decision on March 27, 2008 by the 
European Court of Human Rights that vindicated the organization 
and claimed that the Greek state violated the right of Assembly 
and Association, as stipulated in the European Convention on 
Human Rights (Ref A.)  The Appeals Court however, concluded that 
the ECHR's ruling was not binding in this case.  Additionally, 
it claimed that the European Court focused only on the cultural 
activities of the organization, overlooking the political ones 
that could potentially "endanger public order in the area". 
Lastly, lawyer Ioannis Hatziantoniou who participated in the 
trial stated that Article 12 of the organization's statute 
-"Monitoring of the members' social and national beliefs"- ran 
contrary to the Constitution and thus, could not be accepted. 
Post sources believe the "Turkish Union of Xanthi"'s lawyer 
Orhan Hajiibram will now take the issue to the Supreme Court of 
Greece. 
 
 
 
POMAKS CLAIM HARASSMENT BY THE TURKISH DELEGATION AT OSCE 
MEETING       ` 
 
 
 
¶4.  (U) Local media in Thrace report that, after addressing last 
month's OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw, 
two Greek Pomaks were verbally harassed by the present Turkish 
delegation.  The Pomaks had earlier spoken about terrorization 
 
THESSALONI 00000047  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
of their community, orchestrated by the Turkish Consulate in 
Komotini, "aiming to impose the image of a unified Muslim 
minority, ethnically Turkish" [Note: The Pomaks are Muslims of 
Slavic descent and speak a language that could be described as a 
Bulgarian dialect. End Note].  Papers noted that the Pomaks had 
to be "saved" by members of the Greek delegation.  According to 
the reports, the incident was brought to the attention of the 
Meeting's Chairwoman Florian Hohenberg, who promised to look 
into it further. 
 
 
 
"VATOPEDI" MONKS AND IMPLICATED JUDGE RECEIVE SUSPENDED SENTENCES 
 
 
 
¶5.  (U) On October 09, the Appeals Court in Thrace sentenced 
Abbot Efrem of the Vatopedi Monastery and monk Arsenios to 15 
months in prison, suspended for three years, for morally 
instigating Judge Maria Psalti's failure to announce her Court's 
decision about the ownership of Vistonida lake promptly.  The 
judge received the same sentence.  The so-called "Vatopedi" 
scandal, a series of illegal land exchanges between the 
Monastery of Vatopedi and GoG, broke out last year and analysts 
claim it was instrumental to the eventual fall of the government 
last month (Ref B). 
 
 
 
UNIVERSITY SURVEY SHOWS ATTICA'S GDP WELL AHEAD OF THESSALONIKI'S 
 
 
 
¶6.  (U) On October 21, the Aristotle University of 
Thessaloniki's research group announced the results of a survey, 
showing that although the GDP in the Prefecture of Attica 
(Athens area) increased by 122% between 1996 and 2004, the 
corresponding figure for Thessaloniki was only 38%, 
significantly lower than even the national average of 71%.  The 
survey also showed that 65% of Thessaloniki's GDP is generated 
from the services sector and 30% from industrial activity. 
Finally, local media reported on data released by the National 
Statistics Service of Greece, according to which unemployment in 
Thessaloniki rose by 2.5% to 11.4% in the second quarter of 
2009, compared with the same period the year before. 
 
 
 
SECURITY INCIDENTS 
 
 
 
¶7.  (SBU) On October 10, four luxury cars were destroyed in 
three different areas of Thessaloniki.  Earlier, on October 07, 
two more had been set on fire in the same city.  A new group, 
called "Burn (Porsche) Cayenne Cars" claimed responsibility for 
the attacks, noting that they were to express solidarity with 
recently arrested anarchists.  In the early evening of October 
21, approximately 20 hooded individuals smashed the windows of 
around 15 luxury stores in downtown Thessaloniki.  The stores 
were closed at the time.  A new group, called "Haute Catastrophe 
Designers" assumed responsibility for the attack shortly after. 
On October 23, there was a series of gas canister attacks 
against the offices of leading local PASOK cadres.  A new group 
called the "Council for the Deconstruction of Order" assumed 
responsibility for the attacks and threatened that local 
journalists will be targeted in the future.  On October 21, an 
improvised incendiary device exploded at the entrance of the 
Italian-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce in Thessaloniki, causing 
minor damage.  The "Council for the Deconstruction of Order" 
assumed responsibility for the attack.  On October 30, an 
improvised incendiary device exploded at the entrance of the 
Honorary Consulate of Spain.  The attack, which took place 
around 500 yards away from the U.S. Consulate, caused minor 
damage to the building.  No group has assumed responsibility. 
On October 15, Hellenic Police's Counter-Terrorism Unit 
discovered six U.S. anti-tank rockets, buried in the mountains 
of Nea Vrasna, Northern Greece.  Last month, eight similar 
rockets were discovered in the same area (Ref C.)  The rockets 
were corroded with rust and transferred to a military camp. 
Police contact told post the case was not connected to terrorism. 
 
 
 
BULGARIAN ARRESTS IN TRAFFICKING CASES 
 
 
 
¶8.  (U) On October 07, three Bulgarians, including the mother of 
 
THESSALONI 00000047  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
an infant, were arrested in the town of Katerini for trying to 
sell a baby to an undercover policeman for 13,000 ($19,000), of 
which, 2,500 ($3,700) would have gone to the mother.  On 
October 10, two Bulgarians were arrested in Thessaloniki and a 
third is wanted for running a "begging ring" whereby, they were 
forcing handicapped Bulgarians to beg and hand them over their 
profits. 
 
 
 
NARCOTICS/CONTRABAND 
 
 
 
¶9.  (U) On October 13, a Czech national was convicted to 20 
years imprisonment for attempted smuggling into Greece of 15 
kilos of heroin.  He was arrested on the (Greek-Turkish) border 
station of "Kipi" a year ago.  On October 15, three Greek 
nationals were arrested in Northern Greece for possessing 22 
kilos of hashish and 44 cannabis plants.  The drugs were 
confiscated.  On October 29, the Thessaloniki Customs Office 
confiscated approximately 500,000 packets of cigarettes hidden 
in a container.  The latter had arrived from Port Side, Egypt 
and a Greek national was the recipient.  The cigarettes were of 
a Greek brand and would have resulted in lost tax revenues of 
2.5m ($3.7m.) 
 
 
 
INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT 
 
 
 
¶10.  (U) Local media reported factually on the 2009 U.S. State 
Department International Religious Freedom Report.  Newspaper 
"Makedonia" summed up the references to Greece by mentioning 
that they primarily comprised of the `bureaucratic problems 
faced by religious minorities", while there was also inclusion 
of "an increase in the number of anti-Semitic incidents 
following Israel's attacks on Gaza". 
KING