Terrorism was not an issue that Greece considers to be over and done with, Public Order Minister George Voulgarakis said on Wednesday, during a ceremony for the naming of the new  'Pavlos Bakoyiannis' Hall on the 7th floor of the public order ministry.

He stressed that investigations were continuing, that the file on terrorism remained open and everything related to terrorist activity in Greece was being constantly re-evaluated in an attempt to shed light on the very least aspect of terrorist crimes.
At the same time, Voulgarakis also noted that the organizations that had troubled Greece in the past had today been fully dismantled and all their crimes had been attributed.

In order for the case to finally be put on the shelf, however, there must be an answer to every last question and the last piece of the 'puzzle' must be put in place, he stressed.

"Phenomena such as terrorism cannot be exorcised, they have to be faced. It would be politically naive to think that this phenomenon can be wiped off the face of the earth and cease," he added.

Voulgarakis said that the slain Pavlos Bakoyiannis, whose 16 years ago became one of the most high-profile and celebrated victims of Greek terrorism after he was shot in a busy Athens thoroughfare, had been an major political personality that had played a decisive role in the developments of that time. According to the minister, the consequences and repercussions of Bakoyiannis' murder had not been adequately analyzed up to the present day.

Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyianni, who had been married to the murdered politician, said that the issue of terrorism in Greece remained open and demanded constant effort and struggle.

While agreeing that the greater part of the terrorists responsible were now behind bars, she stressed that all sides must remember that a terrorist strike is a strike against Greek society, democracy, its values and principles.

"Democracy is not self-evident in any part of the world. Democracy is a tree that we must daily care for and defend," Bakoyianni stressed as she concluded her speech.

The hall was named after Pavlos Bakoyiannis to mark Day of the Police and the patron saint of the police force, the martyr St. Artemios. It was named after Bakoyiannis in tribute to the sole member of the Greek Parliament to have been murdered by the terrorist group "November 17" and in memory of victims of terrorism everywhere.

The ceremony was also attended by family members of terrorist victims, including the Athens mayor and her father, former premier and ND honorary president Constantine Mitsotakis.

Source: Athens News Agency

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