Two Turkish citizens were killed and one was injured when armed assailants attacked them in broad daylight in southern Athens on Monday, in the latest chapter of an ongoing war among Turkish criminal organizations operating in Greece, the Greek Kathimerini newspaper reported.
The attack took place outside of a betting shop in the suburb of Glyfada on Monday morning.
Greek authorities recovered 25 shell casings from the scene.
Shortly after, Greek police arrested two suspects, both Turkish nationals, near Mount Ymittos in eastern Attica, finding a firearm and discarded clothing linked to the crime. Neither suspect, both of whom recently arrived Greece from Turkey, had a prior record in Greece.
A confidential report drafted by Greek security authorities in September warned about the activities of Turkish criminal groups operating in the country, pointing out the risk of their being used by foreign intelligence services for espionage.
The report also warned of the risk of Greece becoming a sphere for settling accounts between rival groups of organized crime in Turkey, as happened in the case of the murder of six people last year.
Six members of an İstanbul-based Turkish criminal gang were found dead in Loutsa, a town in Attica, central Greece, in September 2023 in what was reported to have been revenge for the killing of a rival gang boss in Paris.
In a similar development, a 40-year-old Turkish national, allegedly a member of the Turkish criminal organization known as the “Hawks,” was arrested on the island of Chios by Greek authorities in September for carrying false Italian identification documents and for illegal gun possession.
In June a 22-year-old Turkish citizen was also jailed pending trial after killing another Turk and seriously injuring a third one in an attack in Greece, with police sources saying both victims were members of a criminal gang.
Turkey and Greece, NATO allies and historic foes, have long been at odds over maritime boundaries among other issues. In recent months, they have stepped up cooperation in many sectors including security.