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Source Wikipedia Aneeb

Revolutionary Organization 17 November

Revolutionary Organization 17 November also known as 17N or N17 is a Marxist organization formed in 1973. During its heyday, the urban guerilla group assassinated 23 people in 103 attacks on U.S., diplomatic and Greek targets. Greek authorities believe spin-off terror groups are still in operation, including Revolutionary Struggle, the group that assumed responsibility for a Rocket Propelled Grenade fired at the U.S. Embassy in Athens in January 2007.

Formation

The group's name, 17N, refers to the final day of the 1973 Athens Polytechnic uprising, in which a protest against the Greek Military Junta (1967 - 1974), also known as the Regime of the Colonels took place. The uprising ended after a series of events that started when a tank took down the main gate of the Polytechnic and security forces, including soldiers, stormed the campus. 17N self-identified as Marxist. In addition to assassinations, 17N was convicted for a number of bank robberies. Members of 17N claim they stole money to finance their activities.

Attacks

17N's first attack, in December 1975, was against the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's station chief in Athens, Richard Welch. Welch was gunned down outside his residence by three or four assailants, in front of his wife and driver.

The terror group expanded beyond attacking U.S. targets by striking at center-right Greek personalities and NATO personnel. Although Greeks were targeted, distaste for the U.S remained a central theme. For example, after the 1983 slaying of Nikos Momferatos, a note was found near his body stating that Greece "remained a puppet regime in the hands of the American imperialists and the economic establishment."

In addition to its anti-American agenda, the group was also opposed to Turkey and NATO. In total, 17N has conducted 19 attacks against U.S. targets, 9 against Turks, and dozens more against US interests. However, the majority of the 103 attacks carried out between 1975 and 2002 were directed against right-of-center Greeks and Greek companies.

One of 17N's most prominent assassinations was that of New Democracy member Pavlos Bakoyannis, who was shot at close range in downtown Athens in September 1989. Other victims included Captain George Tsantes Jr., United States Navy officer and head of JUSMAGG (Joint United States Military Aid Group to Greece), and his Greek driver, both shot while driving to work; Nikos Momferatos, the publisher of conservative newspaper Apogevmatini, shot in Athens; Captain William Nordeen U.S.N., whose car was destroyed by a car bomb a few meters from his residence, as he drove past it on 28 June 1988; U.S. Air Force Sergeant Ronald O. Stewart, who was killed by a car bomb outside his residence on 12 March 1991; Çetin Görgü, Turkish press attaché, shot in his car on 7 October 1991; Ömer Haluk Sipahioğlu, a Turkish embassy official, shot on an Athens street on 4 July 1994; Anglo-Hellenic shipping tycoon Constantinos Peratikos, shot leaving his office on 28 May 1997 and Brigadier Stephen Saunders on 8 June 2000

In many instances, the group used a .38 caliber pistol retrieved from a policeman killed in 1984, or a .45 M1911 handgun, which came to be regarded as their signature weapon.^[1] While face-to-face assassination was their early modus operandi, the group later used rockets and bombs stolen from Greek military facilities. Over 50 rocket attacks were claimed by 17N, starting with an attack on a Greek police bus in which 14 were wounded and 1 killed.

After their inaugural attack on the CIA station chief, the group tried to get mainstream newspapers to publish their manifesto. Their first proclamation, claiming the murder of Richard Welch, was first sent to "Liberation" in Paris, France. It was given to the publisher of "Liberation" via the offices of Jean Paul Sartre,^[2] but was not published. After subsequent attacks, 17N usually sent a communique to the Eleftherotypia newspaper. The group argued in its communiques that it wanted to rid Greece of U.S. bases, to remove the Turkish military from Cyprus, and to sever Greece's ties to the NATO and the European Union.

On January 12, 2007, a group calling itself "Revolutionary Struggle" claimed responsibility for a missile attack on the United States embassy in Athens. The group described itself as a spinoff of 17N.^[3]

Victims

• Richard Welch, CIA attache in Athens. (23 December 1975)
• Evangelos Mallios, policeman who was accused of torturing political prisoners during the period of military junta. (14 December 1976)
• Pantelis Petrou, assistant commander of the Greek police force's Riot Control Unit (M.A.T). (16 January 1980)
• Sotiris Stamoulis, driver of the above mentioned. (16 January 1980)
• George Tsantes, a US Navy Commander, high level executive of JUSMAGG (15 November 1983)
• Nikos Veloutsos, driver of the above mentioned. (15 November 1983)
• Robert Judd, Army Master Sergeant, Postal officer for JUSMAGG in Greece, wounded in an assassination attempt. (3 April 1984)
• Nikos Momferatos, publisher of the "Apogevmatini" newspaper. (21 February 1985)
• Georgios Roussetis, driver of above mentioned. (21 February 1985)
• Dimitrios Aggelopoulos, President of the board of Halyvourgiki S.A.. (8 April 1986)
• Alexander Athanasiadis-Bodosakis, industrialist. (1 March 1988)
• William Nordeen, a US Navy Commander, killed by a car bomb. (23 June 1988)
• Constantinos Androulidakis, a public prosecutor, assassinated. (10 January 1989)
• Panayiotis Tarasouleas, also a public prosecutor, is shot and injured. (18 January 1989)
• Giorgos Petsos, PASOK MP and Minister, is injured in a bomb explosion in his car. (8 May 1989)
• Pavlos Bakoyannis, New Democracy party member and MP (26 September 1989)
• Ronald O. Stewart,a US Air Force Sergeant, killed by a bomb. (13 March 1991)
• Deniz Bulukbasi,Turkish Charge d’Affaires, is injured by a car bomb. (16 July 1991)
• Cetin Gorgu, Turkish Press attache (7 October 1991)
• Yiannis Varis, a police officer, is killed in a missile and hand grenade attack against a riot squad bus (2 November 1991)
• Athanasios Axarlian, a student passer by; killed on the spot by shrapnel during a rocket attack targeting the limousine of Finance Minister Ioannis Palaiokrassas. (14 July 1992)
• Eleftherios Papadimitriou, New Democracy party deputy and MP, is shot and injured. (21 December 1992)
• Michael Vranopoulos, former governor of the National Bank of Greece. (24 January 1994)
• Omer Haluk Sipahioglu, consul of the Turkish Embassy in Athens. (4 July 1994)
• Constantinos Peratikos, ship owner, last person to own the shipyards of Scaramangas. (28 May 1997)
• Stephen Saunders, military attache of the British Embassy in Athens. (15 June 2000)