Fatal shootings in capital seen as linked to turf war
The bloody armed attacks that took place in central Athens, in Vathis Square on Friday afternoon and in Petralona on Saturday night, leaving one person dead and one seriously injured, have been linked to a turf war between rival gangs to control trafficking of migrants and drugs, police say.
Both cases involved Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin, some of whom have already sought or secured asylum in Greece, claiming links to the network of self-exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen.
Police identified the dead man following the shooting on Saturday night in Petralona as the likely perpetrator of Friday’s attack. He appears in police files under a double identity, as a 29-year-old Turk and as a 22-year-old Bulgarian.
He had opened fire and wounded two men aged 22 and 27 on Friday. The latter was in critical condition after being shot in the face and chest, while the other was wounded in the shoulder.
