Anarchy in Kavala
Interview with Marius of "autonomous center - Kavala"
Tell us about your organization?
Here in Kavala anarchistic presence there since 1985 were initially small group of people and gradually began to become more and more. After 1997-98 are much larger and stronger organization. In Kavala, we have the first and most lasting self-supporting self-infoshop center in Greece, in 1985, which is open 24 years now. In the beginning here there were lefties and environmentalists, and other alternative people, but in the last 15 years here are just anarchists and antiavtoritarni people. As you can see here we have a rich library with many old posts that collect and provide to people who want to learn and understand what happened, for example in the 80s. We have different shares. Every month we organize concerts. The University of Kavala have occupied space, squash, we use primarily for organizing the concerts. One of the things I always do is to put "free admission" concerts, so anyone who wants to come, even if no money. And who wants to help us, can give a voluntary donation to the organization of the next concerts. Furthermore, we demonstrations ripping off posters and others that sometimes lead to conflicts with the police.
Have you participated in a large protest?
One of the biggest protests in Kavala was when I did squats in 2004, then squat building was owned by the municipality and the police soon came and records of all data, some people were arrested and interrogated, but were soon released. Immediately thereafter organized a demonstration which ended in front of police headquarters. They scratch with sprays all police cars. Three weeks later organized a demonstration against police violence. A boy from our camera broke a bank and the police attacked us. It was a clash, which lasted about 20 minutes. We could not break them, but they failed to break us and we were protesting in the streets. One of the busiest period was in December last year. When on December 6, police shot 15-year-old boy (anarchist Alexandros Grigoropoulos, Ed.), Riots broke out across Greece. When people here in Kavala, learned immediately took to the streets without being considered in advance, without having planned anything concrete. 50-60 people began to make barricades in the streets, but police avoided conflict and did nothing. The next day there was an attack on police station with cocktails "Molotov." In the third and fourth day there was much action not only anarchists but also students and workers. These days the police were afraid to take to the streets and stood inside the closed areas. It was a great victory for all!
What happens after the protests in Greece in December?
Usually after a big government riots take drastic measures against all those involved in them, but at least I think so far we are not exerted a crushing pressure. At first arrested about 200-300 people in Greece, 60 people went to jail, but now all been released. Now the government says there is a plan against anarchists and antiavtoritarnite people and immigrants after the turn of the anarchists. You know about the government's actions against illegal immigration - deport them, destroy the places where people live, close them in prisons that resemble concentration camps. Currently the Government is preparing raids all the squats, but we are well organized and will not surrender and will fight to protect their homes and places where we gather.
We learned that you expect these shares to the police against squats soon.
Yes. In Greek culture in August is a month of rest, the weather is very hot and all going somewhere. So the police will try to attack us during this period because they think that squats will have almost no one will be easy. But this year we are prepared and no one has gone. I think the police will first take small shares to see what will be our response. If they try to destroy all the squats, Greece will again experience the events of December, because there's so many squats across the country and we are only 200-300 people - we have thousands. Moreover, the government should care much about their image, because every day we learn about the news of corruption scandals involving politicians, priests. Minister of Public Order Markogiannakis who says he will take action against the anarchists, was also involved in a major scandal. So the government will not be easy to beat us.
What about joint actions of the anarchists in the Balkans?
I think this is a good idea. But first you need to better know each other. So you should meet more often and talk about issues that we all have in their countries and to construct a common agenda. You are in Bulgaria do some things that we in Greece do other things in Macedonia - third. It will be very good to keep in touch with each other and to exchange ideas and experiences, because capitalists, governments, States shall act jointly against us and we must be united if we want to confront them.
How do you see the future of the anarchist movement in Greece?
I think anarchists should start acting more on their jobs. We organize workers and other shares, but I think they should be more. At the beginning of the anarchist movement in Greece, most people were young students, respectively, did not share many of the jobs. But now, when the movement became much more widely, I think we should do more things in places where we work.
You know what happened to Kostadina Kuneva. In Bulgaria, neither the government nor the unions did something about it. Only we, the anarchists organized two demonstrations of solidarity. Can you tell us more about the Greek movement in support of Kuneva?
This movement was organized by different people, not only by anarchists, but all were anarchists in solidarity with Kostadina Kuneva. Because she was a worker for its actions - so she insisted on better working conditions, her flooded with acid. Now many others have joined this movement - left-handed, more liberal people, immigrants. So this movement is not purely anarchist, but I think this is not fault. It is good that other people struggle with.
According to statistics, currently in Greece, employing about 100 000 Bulgarians, like Kostadina Kuneva.
In recent years Greece has many immigrants not only from Bulgaria. Especially in Eastern Europe when the communist regime fell, many people emigrated. In Greece, most are immigrants from Albania, but there are other countries such as Bulgaria. Men work mainly in the field, but because of ruthless exploitation, many women are forced into prostitution. It is appalling that such Bulgarian woman in Greece is synonymous with prostitute. When I say that women are forced into prostitution, I do not mean that necessarily compelled by force. Naturally, there are such cases. But when these women are faced with the dilemma whether to work as Kostadina Kuneva and earn 15 euros per day, or to earn 40-50 euros a day as prostitutes, sometimes they choose the second method, simply because no other way to survive.
Now the second generation immigrants are much more interested in policy than the former. The first generation immigrants were very poor and they say capitalism was paradise. They sought to buy houses, cars and be part of capitalist society. But already the second generation, children of Bulgarian and Albanian immigrants who were born here in Greece, realized that this is a stupid and so many of them are close to the radical movements. Years ago there were attempts by anarchists to radicalise immigrants, but most of these attempts failed because immigrants thought only how to live in their "capitalist paradise". But now many second-generation immigrants involved in the December riots - people from Bulgaria, Albania, Russia, Asia.
For 15 years anarchists participate extensively in a variety of stocks - from environmental to more direct - and therefore we were in December. Police kill children elsewhere, but nowhere is there any riots.
Interviewed by a group of activists from FAB
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