Riots continue to hit Greek capital
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Huriyet Daily News with wires
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Aralık 13, 2008 00:00
ISTANBUL - Greek youths throw rocks and Molotov cocktails at riot police in Athens, who respond with stun grenades and tear gas. Despite seven straight days of unrest, Greece’s Conservative Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis rebuffs mounting calls to resign and hold early elections.
Greek students hurled firebombs and stones at police outside parliament on Friday, in a seventh day of violence over the police killing of a teenager that has threatened Greece's government.
Meanwhile, youths threw tomatoes at the Greek consulate in the western city of İzmir on Friday to protest the police shooting of the Greek teenager, Anatolia news agency reported. "Greek youths are not alone, long live solidarity," chanted teens, who were blocked by police from approaching the consulate building, the report added.
Terrified workers in banks along Athens' central Syntagma Square watched in fear as protesters shattered windows just replaced days ago after being damaged in the worst riots Greece has experienced in decades.
Protesters also smashed their way into the main branch of the National Bank of Greece, sending employees fleeing in panic Friday. One protester walked up to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside Parliament and threw a black-and-red anarchist flag at it, according to The Associated Press.
The riots broke out within hours of the police shooting death of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos death last Saturday, and have since expanded to encompass general anger over economic hardship. Hundreds of stores and dozens of cars have been destroyed or damaged in cities across the country.
PM snub snap poll calls
The violence has hammered Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis' increasingly conservative government, which already faced vociferous opposition to economic and social reforms. But Karamanlis, whose party has only a single seat majority in parliament, explicitly rejected mounting calls for him to resign and call early elections, saying Friday that the country needed a steady hand in times of crisis.
"That is my concern and the concern and the priority of the government, and not scenarios about elections and successions," PMsaid in Brussels.
"The Bell Tolls For Karamanlis," said Ta Nea newspaper on its front page, as Greek media criticized the government's sluggish response to the crisis. "Government Under Siege; Education Protests Escalate," said Ethnos, reported by Reuters.
About 100 people have been arrested during the riots and 70 injured.
The unrest has also spilled over into other European cities, raising concerns the clashes could be a trigger for opponents of globalization, disaffected youth and others outraged by the continent's economic turmoil and soaring unemployment.
Inspired by protests in neighboring Greece, hundreds of young people held a silent rally in Sofia on Friday urging the government to step up the fight against crime after drunk youths beat to death a student. In Germany, demonstrators threw stones, bottles and paint at police cars during a protest rally in Frankfurt on Thursday night. Similar protests held across Europe, including Spain, Denmark and Italy, as teenagers smashed shop windows and pelted police with bottles.
Meanwhile, youths threw tomatoes at the Greek consulate in the western city of İzmir on Friday to protest the police shooting of the Greek teenager, Anatolia news agency reported. "Greek youths are not alone, long live solidarity," chanted teens, who were blocked by police from approaching the consulate building, the report added.
Terrified workers in banks along Athens' central Syntagma Square watched in fear as protesters shattered windows just replaced days ago after being damaged in the worst riots Greece has experienced in decades.
Protesters also smashed their way into the main branch of the National Bank of Greece, sending employees fleeing in panic Friday. One protester walked up to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside Parliament and threw a black-and-red anarchist flag at it, according to The Associated Press.
The riots broke out within hours of the police shooting death of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos death last Saturday, and have since expanded to encompass general anger over economic hardship. Hundreds of stores and dozens of cars have been destroyed or damaged in cities across the country.
PM snub snap poll calls
The violence has hammered Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis' increasingly conservative government, which already faced vociferous opposition to economic and social reforms. But Karamanlis, whose party has only a single seat majority in parliament, explicitly rejected mounting calls for him to resign and call early elections, saying Friday that the country needed a steady hand in times of crisis.
"That is my concern and the concern and the priority of the government, and not scenarios about elections and successions," PMsaid in Brussels.
"The Bell Tolls For Karamanlis," said Ta Nea newspaper on its front page, as Greek media criticized the government's sluggish response to the crisis. "Government Under Siege; Education Protests Escalate," said Ethnos, reported by Reuters.
About 100 people have been arrested during the riots and 70 injured.
The unrest has also spilled over into other European cities, raising concerns the clashes could be a trigger for opponents of globalization, disaffected youth and others outraged by the continent's economic turmoil and soaring unemployment.
Inspired by protests in neighboring Greece, hundreds of young people held a silent rally in Sofia on Friday urging the government to step up the fight against crime after drunk youths beat to death a student. In Germany, demonstrators threw stones, bottles and paint at police cars during a protest rally in Frankfurt on Thursday night. Similar protests held across Europe, including Spain, Denmark and Italy, as teenagers smashed shop windows and pelted police with bottles.