Turkish mafia posing hybrid threat

A confidential report authored by Greek security authorities charting the activity of the Turkish mafia in Greece has issued a stern warning about the risk of its being used as a tool by secret services. The multi-page report coincides with the recent arrest of armed Turkish mobsters in Greece on two separate occasions within the space of three days.

The authors of the report characterize the potential recruitment of criminal law offenders by espionage networks as an "escalating threat." Among other things, the report notes that Greece risks becoming a sphere for settling scores between rival groups of organized crime in Turkey, as happened in the case of the six-person murder in September 2023 in Loutsa. However, it also stressed that Turkish criminal groups can be leveraged by "politically motivated actors and intelligence services to carry out covert operations, such as...