Police brutality

A mob of supporters of outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump swarming the U.S.Congress is a "disgrace to the history of democracy," President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Jan.8.

"This process in the U.S, which was described as the cradle of democracy, really shocked all of humanity," Erdoğan told reporters, noting that the case the U.S. is faced with has not happened in its history.

Citizens' Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis on Wednesday denied allegations of police brutality.

"Figures do not confirm an increase [in police brutality], quite the opposite in fact," Chrysochoidis told Parliament.

Minneapolis leaders voted unanimously on June 12 to disband the U.S. city's police force and replace it with a "community" safety department, a reaction to transformational changes demanded in mass protests against racial injustice.

Some three decades after the fall of communist systems, police brutality - linked to political, racial and other issues - remains a problem across the region.

Police clashed with protesters in central Athens on Friday night during a rally over the death of George Floyd, who suffocated on May 25 as a Minneapolis police officer jammed a knee into his neck as he was held down on the street.

Police in central Athens have closed several central metro stations after hundreds of people gathered on Syntagma Square in solidarity with demonstrators in the United States protesting the death of a black man in police custody last month.

Five people were arrested and 12 detained in clashes between protesters and police during a march in central Athens over the death of George Floyd, the handcuffed black man who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police on May 25.

The march, organised by leftist groups, started from Syntagma square and reached the US embassy on Wednesday night.

Holding banners decrying racism and police brutality, demonstrators marched through Thessaloniki on Tuesday to show solidarity with protesters in the US over the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Many held banners reading "Black lives matter" and "I can't breathe," the phrase that Floyd uttered repeatedly while pinned to the street under a police officer's knee.

About 300 supporters of the Greek Communist Party's youth wing demonstrated outside the American embassy in Athens on Monday afternoon, to protest against police violence and show solidarity with demonstrators in the US over the death of George Floyd while in police custody.

Minneapolis has witnessed serious unrest over the past few days, sparked by the police killing of a black man named George Floyd, who was accused of using a counterfeit 20 dollar bill.