Police in Greece’s second-largest city say they have arrested two people as suspects in an attack that left the mayor of Thessaloniki hospitalized.
Mayor Yiannis Boutaris of Greece’s second-largest city was hospitalized Saturday with head, back and leg injuries after being set upon by nationalist extremists.
Thessaloniki City Council President Calypso Goula said Boutaris was attending a flag-lowering ceremony Saturday in commemoration of the so-called “Pontic Genocide,” the killing of ethnic Greeks by the Turks in the Black Sea region during World War I and the subsequent Greek-Turkish War.
Police say one of the detained suspects is a 36 year old, the other age 20. They are looking for more suspects.
Goula, who also was there, says about a dozen people approached the 75-year-old Boutaris and told him to leave the event, then attacked him with bottles. The mayor is known for his strong anti-nationalist stance.
Goula says Boutaris fell down and was kicked in the head and legs.
“They were hitting me everywhere. Kicks, punches, the lot,” Boutaris told state agency ANA Sunday. “It was a despicable attack, but I am well.”
Footage from the event shows Boutaris initially being heckled. As he starts to leave, people start throwing objects at him and he falls to the ground.
Some of the attackers tried to break the windows of his car as it sped off.
Source: DS
