Deadly central Athens gunfight as police gun down Albanians

ekathimerini.com ^ | Monday May 12, 2003 | ekathimerini.com

[Destro]

Monday May 12, 2003 Deadly central Athens gunfight

An Albanian crime suspect was killed and another two arrested during a central Athens shootout with police early yesterday in which two officers and a passer-by suffered gunshot wounds.

The fight, in the densely populated Kypseli area, followed a police stakeout outside a bar on Kefallinias Street, where an Albanian suspected bank robber, Suleyman Dervis, 25, was drinking with another four Albanians.

Police believe Dervis headed a gang that carried out a string of eight armed bank robberies, two of whose members have been arrested. The suspect was located late on Saturday in a bar named 65, and officers decided to arrest him when he left the establishment.

According to police, as the five Albanians were leaving around 1 a.m., they saw officers closing in, drew handguns and started shooting. In the fight that ensued as the suspects fled, two policemen, Alexandros Papadimitropoulos and Spyridon Nikou, received non life-threatening injuries, while a young woman who was walking past was hit in the elbow. Irini Chryssoulaki, 24, was recovering in hospital yesterday.

Albanian national Adriatik Vesso, 27, was shot dead, while another two men, Marian Dreka, 28, and Naim Kodra, 29, were arrested. Dervis and a fifth suspect managed to escape on a stolen motorbike. A Czech-made handgun was found on Vesso.

Meanwhile, police on Saturday announced the arrest, on Thursday, of two Albanian suspected bank robbers in Aghia Paraskevi, northeastern Athens. Adrian Zanelli, 21, and Elton Merkouris, 20, are believed to have mounted a 30,000-euro heist on a National Bank of Greece branch in Vyronas, eastern Athens, last Monday.

[Destro]

Albanian plague.

[Destro]

bump

[John Frum]

Were these albanians, muslims? Just wondering...

[Destro]

Yup..

[Paleo Conservative]

I guess we can expect more of this during the Olympics.

[longtermmemmory]

not really just during the olympics. Albanians have flooded into Greece fleeing from Albania's ecconomy and war. There are police stationed at train station who inspect visa papers anyone fitting a profile of albanian. Arrests are not uncommon.

[alethia]

Absolutely true. Robberies, rapes and break-ins in outlying areas increased substantially with the inflow of Albanians. My mother-in-law had a neighbor watching her house just outside of Greece -- he fired off a couple of rounds more than once to scare these thiefs away.

My husband's aunt came into her house unexpectedly, saw some legs jutting from under the bed and thinking it was her husband, she began pulling. Well, it wasn't her husband -- it was an Albanian drifter who'd stopped by to do a little shopping at my family's expense. As she pulled and yelled for him to stop joking around, he pulled further under and finally jumped out, defeated by this strong and shrieking Greek woman (to her complete astonishment), peeled out of the shirt she was holding and ran off. I think she was very lucky...

[alethia]

..."just outside of Greece"

Correction -- make that "just outside of Athens"...

[longtermmemmory]

I have heard similar stories in the country. (I travel a bit) Thesaloniki, the surrounding areas of Meteora (!), sparta, and ancient Olympia. Every farm house has been burglared during the winter months. We even have a local who returned to Thesaloniki from the states only to find his retirement home looted and stripped clean, the furniture was even gone. The neighbors borded the house to preserve the structure itself.

These Greeks know how those people on the US/mex boarder feel. Illegals are scum no matter which country you are in.

[alethia]

Truly is incredible. There are some Albanians who have made a place for themselves in Greek society -- or are trying to. It is quite difficult for them with this type of behavior, though.

[longtermmemmory]

yes

[avissato]

Albanians are not bad people. Greeks blame the Albanians for anything bad that happens in Greece. Greeks also discriminate against the Albanians. I’m an Albanian myself and I never felt that bad about myself, like I felt in Greece. Greeks look at you down. As soon as they here you are an Albanian they freak out, and right away they look at you as a killer. I think is time for Greeks to realize that Albanians are just desperate human beings that just came out of a horrible economic system.
It is true that Muslims is the majority in Albania, but Albanians are not even close of being part of any terrorist group. Albania did not practice any religion for 45 years. There are three main religions in Albania, and they all live in peace with each other. My opinion is that Albanians believe in god, and what religion their ancestors had doesn’t even matter.
I live in U.S near a Greek town, and I can tell you that there are no differences between Albanians and Greeks. They share the same values and traditions. They even look the same with that big nose. In U.S.A. I got to admit Greeks have helped the Albanians a lot, but I can’t say the same thing in Greece. Hopefully one day Greek people will realize that not all the Albanians are killers and beggars.

[longtermmemmory]

Part of the problem in Greece is that many of the refugees came over illegally from a nation ripped by war. Many of those illegals had personal histories which were criminal.

The common religion is helping those albanians who do come in legally, blend into becoming part of Greek Society.

It only becomes problematic for thos people who live in the border areas, (much like US homes on the border with illegals crossing over). The mountainous borders are impossible to seal and this lead to homeinvasions over the border. The Greek TV also carried routine pictures of Albanians packed similar to Haitians in boats attempting illegal entry.

On a lighter note, it may not be an earth shattering development on this issue. I can tell you that in the Greek Clubs of Athens and Thesaloniki they do play Albanian music. You don't necessarily party, drink and celebrate whatever with those you hate. As I said a lighter note. It may just be a sign of things to come as the illegal issue settles down.