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The People's Association – Golden Dawn (Template:Lang-el), usually known simply as Golden Dawn (Template:Lang-el, Greek pronunciation: [xriˈsi avˈʝi]), is a right-wing extremist political organization in Greece. It is led by Nikolaos Michaloliakos and has grown considerably since its inception to a widely known Greek political party with nationwide support.

Scholars and media describe it as neo-Nazi and fascist, although the group rejects these labels. They have used Nazi symbolism and praised figures of Nazi Germany in the past. According to academic sources, the group is racist and xenophobic, while the party's leader has openly identified it as nationalist and racist.

Michaloliakos began the foundations of what would become Golden Dawn in 1980. It first received widespread attention in 1991, and in 1993 registered as a political party. It temporarily ceased political operations in 2005 and was absorbed by the Patriotic Alliance. The Alliance in turn ceased operations after Michaloliakos withdrew support. In March 2007, Golden Dawn held its sixth congress, where Party officials announced the resumption of political activism. At local elections on November 7, 2010 Golden Dawn got 5.3 percent of the vote in the municipality of Athens, winning a seat at the City Council. In some neighbourhoods with large immigrant communities it even reached 20 percent.

The party ran a campaign during the Greek national elections of 2012 based on concerns for unemployment, austerity and the economy, as well as virulent anti-immigration rhetoric, which gained a large increase in support from the Greek electorate. It received seven percent of the popular vote, enough for the party to enter the Hellenic Parliament for the first time with 21 seats. Following a second election in June, this was reduced slightly to 18 seats.

History

1980–2005

In December 1980, Nikolaos Michaloliakos and a group of supporters launched Chrysi Avgi magazine. Michaloliakos (a mathematician and a dishonourably discharged former commando reservist officer) had been active in far right politics for many years, having been arrested several times for politically motivated offences, such as beatings and illegal possession of explosive materials, which led to his discharge from the military. While he was in prison, Michaloliakos met the leaders of the Greek military junta of 1967–1974 and laid the foundations of the Golden Dawn party. According to the newspaper Eleftherotypia the characteristics of the magazine and the organisation were clearly National Socialist. Chrysi Avgi magazine ceased publication in April 1984, when Michaloliakos joined the National Political Union and took over the leadership of its youth section. In January 1985, he broke away from the National Political Union and founded the Popular National Movement – Golden Dawn, which was officially recognised as a political party in 1993.

Golden Dawn remained largely on the margins of far right politics until the Macedonia naming dispute in 1991 and 1992. The Greek newspaper Eleftherotypia reported that on October 10, 1992, about 30 Golden Dawn members attacked students at the Athens University of Economics and Business during a massive demonstration against the use of the name Macedonia by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Around the same time, the first far-right street gangs appeared under the leadership of Giannis Giannopoulos, a former military officer who was involved with the South African Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) during the 1980s. After the events of 1991 and 1992, Golden Dawn had gained a stable membership of more than 200 members, and Giannopoulos rose within the party hierarchy. Golden Dawn ran in the 1994 European Parliament election, gaining 7,264 votes nationwide; 0.11 percent of the votes cast.

During the 1980s the party embraced Hellenic Neopagan beliefs, praised the Twelve Olympians and described Marxism and liberalism as "the ideological carriers of Judeo-Christianity." The party went through ideological changes later and welcomed Greek Orthodox Christianity. Today, the party's official stance on religion is that the Byzantine Empire protected Hellenism and the ancient Greek pagan spirit. According to its current beliefs, the Greek Orthodox Christianity captured and keeps the indigenous spirituality of the Greeks alive .

A number of Golden Dawn members participated during the Bosnian War in the Greek Volunteer Guard (GVG), which was part of the Drina Corps of the Army of Republika Srpska. A few GVG volunteers were present in Srebrenica during the Srebrenica massacre, and they raised a Greek flag at a ruined church after the fall of the town. Spiros Tzanopoulos, a GVG sergeant who took part in the attack against Srebrenica, said many of the Greek volunteers participated in the war because they were members of Golden Dawn. Golden Dawn members in the GVG were decorated by Radovan Karadžić, but — according to former Golden Dawn member Charis Kousoumvris — those who were decorated later left the party.

In April 1996, Giannopoulos represented the party at a pan-European convention of far-right nationalist parties in Moscow, where he presented a bust of Alexander the Great to Liberal Democratic Party of Russia leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky for his birthday. Golden Dawn participated in the 1996 legislative election in September, receiving 4,487 votes nationwide; 0.07 percent of the votes cast. In October 1997, Giannopoulos published an article in Chrysi Avgi magazine calling for nationalist vigilantism against immigrants and liberals. In 1998, a prominent party member, Antonios Androutsopoulos, assaulted left-wing student activist Dimitris Kousouris. The resulting media attention, along with internal party conflicts (due to poor results in the 1996 elections), led some of its most extreme members to gradually fade from official party affairs.

Androutsopoulos evaded arrest for seven years, with the alleged assistance of sympathetic members of the police. He finally surrendered in 2005, and was convicted in 21 years prison term for triple attempt of murder against Kousouris and another two left wing activists. The rest of the members of the squad that hit Kousouris were never legally prosecuted. In March 2009, Androutsopoulos was judged in a second degree and took 12 years, to be finally released from prison a few months later. Meanwhile, Golden Dawn continued to hold rallies and marches, and it ran in the 1999 European election in an alliance with the Front Line party, gaining 48,532 votes nationwide; 0.75 percent of the votes cast. Eleftherotypia criticized Chrysi Avgi in 2005 after party members distributed homophobic fliers during an Athens gay pride parade.

2005 and later

According to Golden Dawn's leader, Nikolaos Michaloliakos, the party suspended its own autonomous political activities after December 1, 2005, due to clashes with anarchists. Golden Dawn members were instructed to continue their activism within the Patriotic Alliance party, which was very closely linked to Golden Dawn. The former leader of Patriotic Alliance, Dimitrios Zaphiropoulos, was once a member of Golden Dawn's political council, and Michaloliakos became a leading member of Patriotic Alliance. There were accusations that the "Patriotic Alliance" was simply the new name of Golden Dawn. Activities by Patriotic Alliance's members were often attributed to Golden Dawn (even by themselves), creating confusion. This is the main reason Golden Dawn's members announced the withdrawal of their support of the Patriotic Alliance, which eventually led to the interruption of Golden Dawn's political activities. In March 2007, Golden Dawn held its sixth congress and announced the resumption of their political and ideological activism.

In May 2012, WordPress shut down Golden Dawn's official website and blog due to death threats against journalist Xenia Kounalaki. Golden Dawn launched a new website at xryshaygh.com a few days later.

Activities

Golden Dawn claimed to have local organisations in 32 Greek cities, as well as in Cyprus.

The party created the Epitropi Ethnikis Mnimis (Committee of National Memory), to organise demonstrations commemorating the anniversaries of certain Greek national events. Since 1996, Epitropi Ethnikis Mninis organizes an annual march usually on January 31 in Athens, in memory of three Greek officers who died during the Imia military crisis. According to the European National Front website, the 2006 march was attended by 2,500 people, although no neutral sources have confirmed that number. Epitropi Ethnikis Mninis has continued its activities, and the January 31 March took place in January 2010.

Epitropi Ethnikis Mnimis has organized annual rallies on June 17 in Thessalonica, in memory of Alexander the Great. Police confronted the 2006 rally participants, forcing Golden Dawn and Patriotic Alliance members to leave the area after conflicts with leftist groups. Later that day, Golden Dawn members gathered in the building of state-owned television channel ERT3 and held a protest as they tried to stop the channel from broadcasting. Police surrounded the building and arrested 48 Golden Dawn members.

In September 2005, Golden Dawn attempted to organise a festival called "Eurofest 2005 – Nationalist Summer Camp" at the grounds of a Greek summer camp. The planned festival depended on the participation of the German National Democratic Party of Germany, the Italian Forza Nuova and the Romanian Noua Dreaptă, as well as Spanish and American far-right groups. The festival was banned by the government.

In June 2007, Golden Dawn sent representatives to protest against the G8 convention in Germany, together with the National Democratic Party of Germany and other European far-right organisations.

In June 2011, Foreign Policy reported that in the midst of the 2010–2011 Greek protests, gangs of Golden Dawn members were increasingly being seen in some of the higher-crime areas of Athens. In May 2012, the BBC reported on how Golden Dawn had become sort of a local 'Robin Hood' in some high-immigration areas of Athens, since the party was developing a social program including the delivery of free or minimal cost food among the most unfavored strata of ethnic Greeks. The party offers protection for victims of crime, a service that has been appreciated by citizens and utilized by the police, which refers Athenians to the Golden Dawn for help, especially when immigrant crime is involved. The party, however, demands allegiance in return for their service.

Youth Front

Golden Dawn's Youth Front has distributed fliers with nationalist messages in Athens schools and organised the concert series Rock Against Communism. It publishes the white nationalist magazine Resistance Hellas-Antepithesi. The magazine is a sister publication of the United States-based National Alliance's Resistance magazine. The collaboration between Greek nationalists and American racialists began in 2001, after National Alliance founder William Luther Pierce visited Thessaloniki, Greece. Pierce's successor, Erich Gliebe, ratified the collaboration after Pierce's death.

Political representation

In May 2009, Golden Dawn took part in the European elections, receiving 23,564 votes corresponding to 0.46 percent of the total votes. In 2010 it won 5.3 percent of the vote in Athens. In that election, the party won its first municipal council seat and entered parliament for the first time in 2012 at the expense of LAOS. In the Greek parliamentary elections of May 2012, the party received 6.97% of the popular vote. In the rerun of the elections in June 2012, their share of the vote was 6.92%. A survey in September 2012 showed that 22% of respondents expressed "positive opinions" about Golden Dawn, up from 12% in May.

Electoral results

Parliament

Election year	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	# of overall seats won	+/-	Notes
2009	19,636	0.3 (#10)	0 / 300
2012 (May)	440,966	7.0 (#6)	21 / 300	21
2012 (Jun)	426,025	6.9 (#5)	18 / 300	3

European Parliament

Violence involving Golden Dawn

Members of Golden Dawn have been accused of carrying out acts of violence and hate crimes against immigrants, political opponents and ethnic minorities. Golden Dawn's offices have been attacked repeatedly by anarchists and leftists and clashes between members of Golden Dawn and leftists have not been unusual.

In January 1998, Alexis Kalofolias, vocalist of the band The Last Drive, was attacked and suffered permanent damage to his right eye, losing two percent of his eyesight. KLIK magazine and left wing newspaper Eleftherotypia reported that members of Golden Dawn were responsible for the attack.

In 2000, unknown suspects vandalized the Monastirioton synagogue, a memorial for Holocaust victims and Jewish cemeteries in Thessaloniki and Athens. There were claims that Golden Dawn's symbols were present at all four sites. The KIS, the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, the Coalition of the Left, of Movements and Ecology, the Greek Helsinki Monitor and others issued statements condemning these acts. The Cyprus chapter of Golden Dawn has been accused of attacks against Turkish Cypriots, and one member was arrested for attacking Turkish-Cypriots in 2005.

In November 2005, Golden Dawn's offices were attacked by a group of Anarchists with molotov cocktails and stones. There were gunshots, and two people (who testified that they were just passing by) were injured. According to Golden Dawn, three suspects were arrested and set free. During the subsequent police investigation, molotov cocktails left overs were discovered in Golden Dawn's offices. Golden Dawn has stated that this was the reason for the organisations disbandment.

Football hooliganism

On October 6, 1999, during a football match between Greece and Albania in Athens, Albanian supporters burnt a Greek flag in their stand. This act was captured and broadcast extensively by the Greek media, leading to a series of angry reactions by Greek nationalists against foreign immigrants. In a specific case, on the night of October 22, Pantelis Kazakos, a nationalist and a member of the Golden Dawn, feeling as he stated: "insulted by the burning of the Greek flag", shot and killed two people and wounded seven others in an attack in central Athens. All of the victims were immigrants, and four of the wounded remain paralysed. Other Golden Dawn members, feeling also "insulted by the burning of the Greek flag", formed the hooligan firm Galazia Stratia (Greek for "Blue Army"). It has described itself as a "fan club of the Greek national teams" and its goal as "to defend Greek national pride inside the stadiums." It has been reported that following Golden Dawn's official disbandment in 2005, many former party members have put most of their energy into promoting Galazia Stratia. Galazia Stratia is closely linked to Golden Dawn, and the two groups shared the same street address. Golden Dawn made no attempt to deny the connections, openly praising the actions of Galazia Stratia in its newspaper, and accepting praise in return from the firm.

Galazia Stratia and Golden Dawn have been accused of various acts of sports-related violence. In September 2004, after a football match between Greece and Albania in Tirana (which Greece lost 2–1), Albanian immigrants living in Greece went out on the streets of Athens and other cities to celebrate the victory. Greek hooligans felt provoked by this and violence erupted against Albanian immigrants in various parts of Greece, resulting in an Albanian murdered in Zakynthos and many others injured. Golden Dawn and Galazia Stratia were proven to be directly responsible for many of the attacks. According to Eleftherotypia, Galazia Stratia members severely assaulted a Palestinian and a Bangladeshi during celebrations following the success of the Greek national basketball team at the 2006 FIBA World Championship.

Periandros case

Antonios Androutsopoulos (aka Periandros), a prominent member of Golden Dawn, was a fugitive from 1998 to September 14, 2005 after being accused of the June 16, 1998 attempted murder of three left-wing students — including Dimitris Kousouris, who was badly injured. Androutsopoulos had been sentenced in absentia to four years of prison for illegal weapon possession while the attempted murder charges against him were still standing.

The authorities' failure to apprehend Androutsopoulos for seven years raised criticisms by the Greek media. A Ta Nea article claimed that Periandros remained in Greece and evaded arrest due to connections with the police. In a 2004 interview, Michalis Chrisochoidis, the former minister of public order of PASOK, claimed that such accusations were unfounded, and he blamed the inefficiency of the Greek police. Some allege that Androutsopoulos had evaded arrest because he had been residing in Venezuela until 2005 when he turned himself in. His trial began on September 20, 2006, and he was convicted to 21 years in prison on September 25, 2006. Golden Dawn members were present at his trial, shouting nationalist slogans; he reportedly hailed them using the Nazi salute.

Imia 2008

On February 2, 2008, Golden Dawn planned to hold the annual march for the twelfth anniversary of the Imia military crisis. Anti-fascist groups organised a protest in order to cancel the march, as a response to racist attacks supposedly caused by Golden Dawn members. Golden Dawn members occupied the square in which the march was to take place, and when anti-fascists showed up, clashes occurred. During the riots that followed, Golden Dawn members were seen attacking the anti-fascists with riot police doing nothing to stop them and actually letting them pass through their lines. This led to two people being stabbed and another two wounded by rocks. There were allegations that Golden Dawn members even carried police equipment with them and that Golden Dawn's equipment was carried inside a police van.

Athens office bombing 2010

On March 19, 2010, a bomb described by police as of "moderate power" was detonated in the fifth floor office of Golden Dawn, in downtown Athens. Twenty-five minutes prior to the blast, an unidentified caller contacted a local newspaper in order to announce the attack. The targeted building and the surrounding area were evacuated in response. The explosion caused substantial property damage but no casualties. The office reopened on April 10, 2010.

Athens office bombing 2012

On December 4, 2012 a makeshift bomb containing dynamite exploded at Golden Dawn's office building in Asprogpyrgos, a suburb of Athens. The explosion caused significant damage to two floors but no casualties.

Liana Kanelli assault and reactions

On June 7, 2012, Golden Dawn spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris slapped Communist Party MP Liana Kanelli about the head three times during a television debate; she had swiped at him with a newspaper for throwing water over a fellow guest. Kasidiaris was subsequently locked in a room at the studio but knocked down the door and escaped. Greek prosecutors have issued an arrest warrant. Golden Dawn blamed Kanelli for the incident. The incident resulted in several protests against Golden Dawn in Athens and other Greek cities. Political analyst Theodore Couloumbis told Reuters that the sight of a young neo-Nazi beating up a defenceless woman could cost the far right party votes, especially with women, though other experts were of the opinion images of violence could play in their favour—a Facebook page dedicated to Kasidiaris picked up 6,000 'likes' within 24 hours.

Promotion of Macedonian-Greek dictionary

In Athens on 2 June 2009, Rainbow activists were promoting a bilingual Macedonian-Greek dictionary prepared by Vasko Karadža, an ethnic Macedonian writer and translator born in Dendrochori, Kastoria in Greece. During the press conference approximately twenty Golden Dawn members, some of them wearing black shirts and combat helmets, stormed the Foreign Press Association building where the conference was being held. Two of the members trashed promotional material, damaged member of the press’ cameras and verbally attacked members of the panel and guests, among them renowned American linguist Victor Friedman, Greek writer Dimitris Lithoxoou, Associate Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Thessaly Riki Van Boeschoten, President of the Greek branch of the European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages Thanasis Parisis, and Professor of Balkan and Slavic Linguistics at the University of Chicago Andrew W. Mellon. The mob decamped after the police were called, and the press conference resumed without any further incidents.

Allegations of connections to the Greek Police

In a 1998 interview with the newspaper Eleftherotypia, Georgios Romaios (the then Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) Minister for Public Order) alleged the existence of "fascist elements in the Greek police", and vowed to suppress them. In a TV interview that same year, Romaios again claimed that there was a pro-fascist group within the police force although he said it was not organized, and was only involved in isolated incidents. The same year, Eleftherotypia published a lengthy article called "The lower limbs of the police", which outlined connections between the police and neo-fascism. Dimitris Reppas, the PASOK government spokesman, strongly denied such connections. However, the article quoted a speech by PASOK Member of Parliament Paraskevas Paraskevopoulos about a riot caused by right wing extremists, in which he said:

"In Thessaloniki it is widely discussed that far-right organisations are active in the security forces. Members of such organisations were the planners and chief executioners of the riot and nobody was arrested. A Special Forces officer, speaking at a briefing of Special Forces policemen that were to be on duty that day, told the policemen not to arrest anyone because the rioters were not enemies and threatened that should this be overlooked there would be penalties."

Before the surrender of Androutsopoulos, an article by the newspaper Ta Nea claimed that the Golden Dawn had close relationships with some parts of the Greek police force. In relation to the Periandros case, the article quoted an unidentified police officer who said that "half the force wanted Periandros arrested and the other half didn't". The article claimed that there was a confidential internal police investigation which concluded that:

1. Golden Dawn had very good relations and contacts with officers of the force, on and off duty, as well as with rank and file police.
2. The police provided the group with batons and radio communications equipment during mass demonstrations, mainly during celebrations of the Athens Polytechnic uprising and during rallies by left-wing and anarchist groups, in order to provoke riots.
3. Periandros and the group's connections with the force largely delayed his arrest.
4. Periandros's brother, also a member of Golden Dawn, was a security escort of an unnamed New Democracy MP.
5. Many Golden Dawn members were illegally carrying an assortment of weapons.

The newspaper published a photograph of a typewritten paragraph with no identifiable insignia as evidence of the secret investigation. In the article, the Minister for Public Order, Michalis Chrysochoidis, responded that he did not recollect such a probe. Chrysochoidis also denied accusations that far right connections within the police force delayed the arrest of Periandros. He said that leftist groups, including the ultra-left anti-state resistance group 17 November, responsible for several murders, had similarly evaded the police for decades. In both cases, he attributed the failures to "stupidity and incompetence" on behalf of the force.

Golden Dawn stated that rumours about the organisation having connections to the Greek police and the government are untrue, and that the police had intervened in Golden Dawn's rallies and had arrested members of the Party several times while the New Democracy party was in power (for example, during a rally in Thessaloniki in June 2006, and at a rally for the anniversary of the Greek genocide, in Athens, also in 2006). Also, on January 2, 2005, anti-fascist and leftist groups invaded Golden Dawn's headquarters in Thesaloniki, under heavy police surveillance. Although riot police units were near the entrance of the building alongside the intruders, they allegedly did not attempt to stop their actions.

In more recent years, anti-fascist and left-wing groups have claimed that many of Golden Dawn's members have close relations (and/or collaborating) with the Greek Central Intelligence Agency (KYP), and also accused the party's general-secretary Nikolaos Michaloliakos of working for the KYP from the 80s. The evidence for this is a payslip showing the names of both Michaloliakos and Konstantinos Plevris as operating for the agency. Golden Dawn claim that the payslip is a forgery.

In July 2012, it was reported that Nils Muižnieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, had placed the alleged ties of Greek Police and Golden Dawn under scrutiny, following reports of the Greek state's continued failure to acknowledge the problem.

According to political analyst Paschos Mandravelis, "A lot of the party's backing comes from the police, young recruits who are a-political and know nothing about the Nazis or Hitler. For them, Golden Dawn supporters are their only allies on the frontline when there are clashes between riot police and leftists."

Following the May 6, 2012 Greek Parliamentary elections, it has been exposed the fact that in some districts more than one out of two Greek police officers voted for Golden Dawn party. Polling stations surrounding the Attica General Police Directorate in the Athens A constituency where on-duty police officers are known to have voted reported slightly more than 20% support for the party, whereas "civilian" polling stations in the constituency reported support of around 6%. The total percentage of Golden Dawn votes in Athens A was 7.8%. A police official stated that support for the party was high and growing among the police, as well as in the branches of the military.

• A Police Officer has been suspened pending investigation while 7 others have been identified for taking part in Golden Dawn raid against stalls (September 10, 2012) operated by migrants in an open-market at Mesolongi.

• Furthermore, following Golden Dawn's repeated attacks at Amerikis Square (Athens) against the Tanzanian Community (where Greek Police failed to proceed in Golden Dawn arrests), an anti-fascist protest was organised which led to clashes between anti-fascist groups and Golden Dawn. Arrests of anti-fascists were made by police, and it has been reported that the police used torture during their confinement in the Central Police Headquarters in Athens by members of the police force. Victims reported that police threatened the protesters that their home addresses would be given to Golden Dawn. (September 30, 2012).

• Members of the Golden Dawn gathered at "Xytirio theater" (Piraeus ave., Athens) along with priests and para-religious followers to condemn its "blasphemous" Terrence McNally’s play "Corpus Christi", chase and beat a journalist in front of police for taking pictures at the incident; his call for help went unreplied by bystanding police. According to other reports Golden Dawn lawmaker Christos Pappas entered the police van and released one of 4 detainees (October 11, 2012).

Allegations of Nazism

The party is regularly described as Neo-Nazi by the international news media, and members are allegedly responsible for anti-semitic graffiti. Officially denying that it has any connection to Neo-Nazism, the party maintains that it cleaves closer to the authoritarian nationalism of Ioannis Metaxas, the Greek general who established the 4th of August regime, in Greece between 1936 and 1941.

Golden Dawn spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris wrote an article that was published in Golden Dawn magazine on April 20, 2011, in which he mentioned: What would the future of Europe and the whole modern world be like if World War II (which the democracies, or in fact the Jews - according to general Ioannis Metaxas - declared on Germany) hadn't stopped the renewing route of National Socialism? Certainly, fundamental values which mainly derive from ancient Greek culture, would be dominant in every state and would define the fate of peoples. Romanticism as a spiritual movement and classicism would prevail against the decadent subculture that corroded the white man. Extreme materialism would have been discarded, giving its place to spiritual exaltation. In the same article, Adolf Hitler is characterized as great social reformer and military genius.

In a 1987 article of the Golden Dawn magazine, its editor Michaloliakos wrote an article with title "Hitler for 1000 years" where he supports Nazism and white supremacy. Specifically he wrote "We are the faithful soldiers of the National Socialist idea and nothing else" and " WE EXIST, and continue the battle, the battle for the final victory of our race". He ends the article by writing "1987, 42 years later, with our thought and soul given to the last great battle, with our thought and soul given to the black and red banners, with our thought and soul given to the memory of our great Leader, we raise our right hand up, we salute the Sun and with the courage, that is compelled by our military honor and our National Socialist duty we shout full of passion, faith to the future and our visions: HEIL HITLER!". Furthermore he capitalizes the pronouns referring to Hitler ("by Himself", "His people").

On August 17, 1987, war criminal Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler's deputy in the Nazi Party, who was given a life sentence at the Nuremberg Trials, committed suicide. The following day, August 18, 1987, Golden Dawn members distributed proclamations in the center of Athens with the phrase RUDOLF HESS IMMORTAL (Greek:RUDOLF HESS ΑΘΑΝΑΤΟΣ).

In pictures taken during the first congress of Golden Dawn in February 1990, the congress hall is decorated with the Swastika and the Wolfsangel.

There are many cases in which Golden Dawn members have appeared to give Nazi salute. Party founder Nikos Michaloliakos appeared to give a Nazi salute in the Athens city council. He claims that it was merely "the salute of the national youth organisation of Ioannis Metaxas". The party states its logo is a traditional Greek meander, not a Nazi symbol.

In May 2012, Golden Dawn ran in Greek elections under the slogan "So we can rid this land of filth". On his post-election statement, leader Nikos Michaloliakos had placed a marble eagle, on an obvious position on his desk, which according to media reports bears similarity to the eagle of the Nazi Third Reich. Post elections, Golden Dawn's MP Eleni Zaroulia wore an iron cross ring during her inauguration, a symbol which has been associated with Nazism. As depicted in a picture taken on September 14, 2012, Golden Dawn's MP Panagiotis Iliopoulos has a tattoo with the phrase Sieg Heil

On July 23, 2012, Golden Dawn member Artemis Matthaiopoulos was elected MP for the town of Serres. The website left.gr (associated with SYRIZA), reported that Matthaiopoulos was the frontman of the Nazi punk band "Pogrom" and pointed to the band's song "Auschwitz" with antisemitic lyrics such as "fuck Anne Frank" and "Juden raus".

Ilias Kasidiaris quoted the antisemitic hoax The Protocols of the Elders of Zion in a speech to parliament on 23 October 2012. Defending himself in a discussion of whether to lift his parliamentary immunity over his assault of Kanelli, he quoted Protocol 19: "In order to destroy the prestige of heroism we shall send them for trial in the category of theft, murder and every kind of abominable and filthy crime."

Stance toward Turkey

• In 2012, party leader Nikos Mihaloliakos said during an election meeting in Thessaloniki that "We will take İstanbul, İzmir as well as the Black Sea back." Earlier, Mihaloliakos had said that one day the "Queen City" (Istanbul) will be "liberated". These regions once had significant Greek populations until the Treaty of Lausanne. He criticized Thessaloniki's mayor for wanting to name one of the city's streets after Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
• In January 2013, A group of supporters of Greece's far-right Golden Dawn party attacked the car of Turkish Consul General Osman İlhan Şener in Komotini (Gümülcine in Turkish) during an anti-Turkey protest. The party members also insulted Atatürk during the attack .

Notes

Footnotes

1. Tsatsanis, Emmanouil (2011), "Hellenism under siege: the national-populist logic of antiglobalization rhetoric in Greece", Journal of Political Ideologies, 16 (1): 11–31, doi:10.1080/13569317.2011.540939, ...and far right-wing newspapers such as Alpha Ena, Eleytheros Kosmos, Eleytheri Ora and Stohos (the mouthpiece of ultra-nationalist group Chrysi Avgi).
2. Ivarsflaten, Elisabeth (2006), Reputational Shields: Why Most Anti-Immigrant Parties Failed in Western Europe, 1980-2005 (PDF), Nuffield College, University of Oxford, p. 15
3. ^
   • Miliopoulos, Lazaros (2011), "Extremismus in Griechenland", Extremismus in den EU-Staaten (in German), VS Verlag, p. 154, doi:10.1007/978-3-531-92746-6_9, ...mit der seit 1993 als Partei anerkannten offen neonationalsozialistischen Gruppierung Goldene Mörgenröte (Chryssi Avgí, Χρυσή Αυγή) kooperierte... (...cooperated with the openly neo-National Socialist group Golden Dawn (Chryssi Avgí, Χρυσή Αυγή), which has been recognized as a party since 1993...)
   • Davies, Peter; Jackson, Paul (2008), The Far Right in Europe: An Encyclopedia, Greenwood World Press, p. 173
   • Chalk, Peter (2003), "Non-Military Security in the Wider Middle East", Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 26 (3): 197–214, doi:10.1080/10576100390211428, Reflecting these perceptions has been a growing sub-culture of support for neo-Nazi hate groups such as Troiseme Voie in France, Golden Dawn in Greece, Combat 18 (C18) in the United Kingdom...
   • Altsech, Moses (2004), "Anti-Semitism in Greece: Embedded in Society", Post-Holocaust and Anti-Semitism (23): 12, On 12 March 2004, Chrysi Avghi (Golden Dawn), the new weekly newspaper of the Neo-Nazi organization of that name, cited another survey indicating that the percentage of Greeks who view immigrants unfavorably is 89 percent. {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
   • Porat, Dina; Stauber, Roni (2002), Antisemitism Worldwide 2000/1, University of Nebraska Press, p. 123, The neo-Nazi Chrissi Avgi (Golden Daybreak) was the only far right group active in 2000. It was responsible for at least one antisemitic act and for attacks against left-wing targets.
4. http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_25/10/2012_467368
5. • Gemenis, Kostas; Nezi, Roula (2012), The 2011 Political Parties Expert Survey in Greece (PDF), University of Twente, p. 4, Interestingly, the placement of the extreme right Chrysi Avyi does not seem to be influenced by this bias, although this has more do with the lack of variance in the data (32 out of 33 experts placed the party on 10)... {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
   • Repoussi, Maria (2009), "Battles over the national past of Greeks: The Greek History Textbook Controversy 2006-2007" (PDF), Geschichte für heute. Zeitschrift für historisch-politische Bildung (1): 5
   • Grumke, Thomas (2003), "The transatlantic dimension of right-wing extremism", Human Rights Review, 4 (4): 56–72, doi:10.1007/s12142-003-1021-x, On October 24, 1998 the Greek right-wing extremist organization Chrisi Avgi ("Golden Dawn") was the host for the "5th European Youth Congress" in Thessaloniki.
6. • Explosion at Greek neo-Nazi office, CNN, 19 March 2010, retrieved 2 February 2012
   • "Greek minister warns of neo-Nazi political threat", B92, 31 March 2012
   • "Ακροδεξιά απειλή για τη Δημοκρατία (Right-wing threat to Democracy)", Ethnos, 31 March 2012
   • "Migration woes take centre stage ahead of Greek election", The Sun Daily, 4 April 2012
7. ^ Donadio, Rachel; Kitsantonis, Niki (6 May 2012), "Greek Voters Punish 2 Main Parties for Economic Collapse", The New York Times
8. • Xenakis, Sappho (2012), "A New Dawn? Change and Continuity in Political Violence in Greece", Terrorism and Political Violence, 24 (3): 437–464, doi:10.1080/09546553.2011.633133, ...Nikolaos Michaloliakos, who in the early 1980s established the fascistic far-right party Chrysi Avgi ("Golden Dawn").
   • Kravva, Vasiliki (2003), "The Construction of Otherness in Modern Greece", The Ethics of Anthropology: Debates and dilemmas, Routledge, p. 169, For example, during the summer of 2000 members of Chryssi Avgi, the most widespread fascist organization in Greece, destroyed part of the third cemetery in Athens...
9. ^ Smith, Helena (16 December 2011), "Rise of the Greek far right raises fears of further turmoil", The Guardian, London
10. Greek far-right leader savors electoral success, Reuters, 6 May 2012, ... the group - which denies it is neo-Nazi - one of the biggest winners in an election...
11. Τα παιδιά του Χίτλερ με στολή "Χρυσής Αυγής"
12. "Χρυσή Αυγή" - Αλήθειες και Ψέμματα, 15 May 2012
13. Οι φύρερ της διπλανής πόρτας, 8 April 2012
14. Sitaropoulos, Nicholas (2004), "Equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin: the transposition in Greece of EU Directive 2000/43", The International Journal of Human Rights, 8 (2): 123–158, doi:10.1080/1364298042000240834, Clearly extreme racist groups are, inter alia, political groups such as 'Chrisi Avgi' and 'Elliniko Metopo'.
15. Sotiropoulos, Dimitri A., Formal Weakness and Informal Strength: Civil Society in Contemporary Greece (PDF), The London School of Economics and Political Science, p. 16, Firstly, there is a youth organization which is titled "Golden Dawn" (in Greek, "Chryssi Avgi") and which is explicitly racist and xenophobic...
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20. ^ Γράφει ο IΟΣ Eleftherotypia 2/07/1998 (in Greek)
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22. Article about Michaloliakos published on Golden Dawn's website.
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34. ^ Golden Dawn stops their activities, European National Front website Cite error: The named reference "ENF_disbandment" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
35. ^ Article in the website of Patriotic Alliance, stating that "those who contributed mostly in our political campaign were the youth of Golden Dawn".
36. Article in Eleftherotypia.
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38. News of the disbandment of Patriotic Alliance, in Independent Media Center.
39. 12.05.07 Michaloliakos' speech during the congress. (in Greek)
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44. "ENF gathers in Athens". European National Front.
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48. "Ανησυχία στην Αθήνα για τις παράλληλες εκδηλώσεις ακροδεξιών και αριστερών οργανώσεων". in.gr. 22/12/06. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
49. ^ "Golden Dawn press release".
50. "Golden Dawn's anti globalisation attendance against G8 convention in Germany".
51. Kakissis, Joanna. "Fear Dimitra". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
52. "Why extreme right Golden Dawn has become local 'Robin Hood' in Greece". BBC.
53. "Far-right party opens a charity grocery store in Athens".
54. "Golden Dawn nationalists hand out 'Greeks only' food". BBC.
55. ^ Smith, Helena (28 September 2012). "Greek police send crime victims to neo-Nazi 'protectors'". The Guardian.
56. "The Growth of White Power Music". Natall.com. (2006-03-04). Retrieved Retrieved on 2011-06-27.. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
57. European Elections 2009. Ekloges-prev.singularlogic.eu. Retrieved on 2011-06-27.
58. Stoukas, Tom (29 April 2012). "Fascist Salutes Return to Greece as Anti-Immigrants Chase Voters". Bloomberg.
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60. ^ Eleftherotypia's article about attacks by Golden Dawn. (in Greek)
61. ^ Επεισόδια με πυροβολισμούς έξω από τα γραφεία της οργάνωσης «Χρυσή Αυγή» in.gr 20/11/05 (in Greek)
62. «Πεδίο μάχης» το κέντρο της Αθήνας έπειτα από παράλληλες συγκεντρώσεις in.gr 17/09/05 (in Greek)
63. ^ Article in magazine KLIK(in Greek)
64. ^ ''Central European Review'' – "Anti-Jewish Attacks". Ce-review.org. Retrieved on 2011-06-27.
65. Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece press release (in Greek). Also contains photographs of the desecrations.
66. Greek Helsinki Monitor press release (in Greek)
67. trncinfo.com – "Fanatic Hrisi Avgi member released."
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73. "Συνέντευξη στο περιοδικό ΑΝΤΕΠΙΘΕΣΗ". Meandros.net. Archived from the original on 5 May 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
74. ^ 17/04/2004 article in Ta Nea (in Greek)
75. In Brief Kathimerini. 14/09/2005
76. Ο «Περίανδρος» άδειασε την ΕΛ.ΑΣ. Eleftherotypia 14/09/2005 (in Greek)
77. 27/04/2004 article in Kathimerini (in Greek)
78. "Παραδόθηκε ο "Xρυσαυγίτης"". Kathimerini. 14/09/2005. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
79. ^ "Αμετανόητη Αυγή του φιδιού". Eleftherotypia. 29/09/06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
80. "Είκοσι ένα χρόνια κάθειρξη χωρίς αναστολή στον "Περίανδρο" για την επίθεση κατά φοιτητών". in.gr. 25/09/06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
81. Athens Indymedia 2008/02/03
82. ΔΕΣΜΟΙ ΑΙΜΑΤΟΣ Eleftherotypia 2008/02/04 (In Greek)
83. Neo-Nazi offices in Greece bombed IOL, March 19th, 2010, retrieved March 27, 2010
84. Spilius, Alex. "Golden Dawn offices damaged by bomb". Retrieved 4 December 2012.
85. Greek far-right Golden Dawn MP wanted for assault BBC News
86. The Independent, 9 June 2012
87. .Sinisa-Jakov Marusic (3 June 2009). "Group Storms Greek-Macedonian Dictionary Promotion". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
88. Athens News Agency: Press Review in Greek, 98-06-29. Hri.org (1998-06-29). Retrieved on 2011-06-27.
89. ^ Eleftherotypia's article part 3 (in Greek)
90. Eleftherotypia article part 1 (in Greek)
91. Image from the article of Ta Nea
92. Indymedia Athens. Athens.indymedia.org (2005-01-22). Retrieved on 2011-06-27.
93. Bulgarian Indymedia
94. "Τα άλλα θύματα της πόλωσης".
95. "Nikos Michaloliakos: fake document of KYP". Golden Dawn.
96. "Στο στόχαστρο η σκιώδης σχέση Χρυσής Αυγής με ΕΛ.ΑΣ".
97. Greek Far Right Hangs a Target on Immigrants New York Times, July 10, 2012.
98. Hate on the Streets Human Rights Watch 10 July 2012.
99. Lambropoulos, Vassilis (11 May 2012). "Ενας στους δύο αστυνομικούς ψήφισαν "Χρυσή Αυγή"". To Vima.
100. Phillips, Barnaby (1 December 2012). "High police support for Greece's Golden Dawn". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
101. "Officer took part in market attack". Kathimerini. 11 September 2012.
102. Margaronis, Maria (9 October 2012). "Greek anti-fascist protesters 'tortured by police' after Golden Dawn clash". The Guardian. Athens.
103. Baboulias, Yiannis (12 October 2012). "Greece, in 2012: fascists beating up people while the police look on". The Guardian.
104. Vaios, Papanagnou (11 October 2012). "Δημοσιογράφος ξυλοκοπείται από την Χρυσή Αυγή". To Vima.
105. "New violent attack of Golden Dawn". TVXS.gr. Retrieved 11 October 2012. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
106. "Βουλευτής Απελευθερώνει Προσαχθέντα". NewsIt.gr. Retrieved 11 October 2012. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
107. Vradelis, Stelios; Kontodima, Daphne (13 October 2012). "File against the Golden Dawn Members who freed prisoner (Θύελλα μετά τα επεισόδια στο Χυτήριο)". Ta Nea. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
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110. • Renee Maltezou (25 April 2012), "Greece: Secretive far-right party taps into Greeks' anger, fear", AFP, Set up in 1992 and relaunched in 2007, the party admires Greek dictator Ioannis Metaxas, who refused to surrender to the Axis powers in 1940. It calls itself nationalist and insists its logo is the ancient Greek Meander symbolizing bravery and endless struggle.
     • Nikos Chasapopoulos (4 August 2012), "Οι φύρερ της διπλανής πόρτας", Step, «Ο φασισμός είναι δαιμονολογία. Φασισμός στην Ιταλία σήμαινε ότι πίσω απ' αυτόν βρίσκεται το κράτος. Εμείς εδώ στην Ελλάδα πιστεύουμε στο Εθνος, στο εθνικό κράτος. Αλλωστε δεν χαιρετούσαν και Ελληνες του Μεταξά έτσι; Δεν χαιρετούσε έτσι και ο σερ Οσβαλντ Μόσλεϊ, ηγέτης της Βρετανικής Ενωσης Φασιστών, που όμως πολέμησε τους Γερμανούς;»
111. ^ "A guide to Greece's political parties", Al Jazeera, 1 May 2012, video appears to show party leader Nikos Michaloliakos giving a Nazi salute in the Athens city council. He claims, however, that it was merely "the salute of the national youth organisation of Ioannis Metaxas", reports the Athens News.
112. tvxs.gr - Ο Κασιδιάρης εξυμνεί τον Χίτλερ, 17/9/2012
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118. "Επιμένει στον ναζιστικό χαιρετισμό η Χρυσή Αυγή". To Vima. 22 October 2012.
119. "Ναζιστικοί χαιρετισμοί στο συμβούλιο του Δήμου Αθηναίων". tvxs.gr. 18 January 2011.
120. Lowen, Mark (30 April 2012). "Greece's far right hopes for new dawn". BBC. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
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125. "Μετά τον Καιάδα και άλλος ροκ σταρ στη Βουλή με τη Χρυσή Αυγή". 23 July 2012. Retrieved 24/7/2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
126. "Announcement for the new Golden Dawn member in Parliament". Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece (KIS). 25 July 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
127. "'Protocols of the Elders of Zion' read aloud in Greek parliament". Times of Israel. 26 October 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
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129. "Yunanistan'da Türk konsolosun aracına saldırı" (in Turkish). NTVMSNBC. Retrieved 10 January 2013.

External links

• Template:Gr icon Official website of Golden Dawn
• Golden Dawn's English Language website
• Gallery with Golden Dawn pictures
• Golden Dawn leader on Hitler, Nazism and the Holocaust (video)

• Greek-language newspapers
• Greek magazines
• Nationalist parties in Greece
• Newspapers published in Greece
• Publications established in 1980
• Political parties established in 1993
• Antisemitism
• Eurosceptic parties
• Far-right political parties
• Neo-Nazi political parties
• 1993 establishments in Greece