Over 2,000 attend Athens 'Je suis Charlie' solidarity gathering

More than 2,000 people attended a gathering to express solidarity with the people of France in Athens on Thursday evening, following the deadly attack in Paris on Wednesday against satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which left 12 people dead and 11 wounded.

The event, held at the French Institute in Athens, mirrored similar gatherings organized around the world to condemn the attack on journalists by Islamic militants. People held placards reading "Je suis Charlie" (I Am Charlie) in French and Greek, using the catchphrase that has become the international slogan used to express solidarity with the victims of the attack, in which two police officers and 10 journalists were allegedly gunned down by brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi, suspected supporters of al-Qaida.

"We are touched by the solidarity being expressed by the Greeks," French Ambassador to Athens Jean Loup Kuhn-Delforge told the state-run Athens-Macedonia News Agency.

"We are united in this battle," said the president of the Greek Union of Journalists (ESIEA), Maria Antoniadou.

"Journalism will not be terrorized," she said.