Winemakers

Thessaloniki Mayor Yiannis Boutaris struck a defiant tone in a Twitter post on Monday night regarding an attack he suffered over the weekend by far-right nationalists who threw bottles at the 75-year-old, pushed him to the ground and kicked him.

"As long as I am mayor, I will not allow Thessaloniki to go back to the time of darkness and scandal," Boutaris said.

The lynch mob attack on Thessaloniki Mayor Yiannis Boutaris during a gathering to commemorate the Pontic genocide - the systematic killing of ethnic Greeks by the Turks during World War I - and while the national anthem was playing in the background, should give us pause.

Greek authorities have charged four men over a weekend mob attack on the 75-year-old mayor of the country's second-largest city, carried out in an apparent venting of nationalist sentiment.

The suspects, aged between 17 and 36, were formally accused of grievous bodily harm and breach of the peace over Saturday's attack on Yiannis Boutaris.

Supporters of Thessaloniki Mayor Yiannis Boutaris, who was on Saturday attacked by nationalist extremists in Greece's northern port city, have organized a solidarity rally for Monday at 5 p.m. at the capital's Kotzia Square.

A similar rally will be staged in Thessaloniki on Wednesday night, at the site of the assault, next to the city's iconic White Tower.

Another two suspects have been arrested in Thessaloniki, in northern Greece, in connection with a violent attack by a nationalist mob on city mayor Yiannis Boutaris, bring the total in police custody to four.

According to reports, the suspects are aged 17 and 20 years old. No more details were immediately available.

Two men were arrested in the northern port city of Thessaloniki on Sunday in connection with a violent attack by a nationalist mob on Mayor Yiannis Boutaris.

The men had been remanded earlier on the basis of video footage of the incident, which took place in front of the northern port's emblematic White Tower during a commemoration of the World War I genocide of the Pontic Greeks.

Greek police said Sunday they were close to identifying one of the suspects involved in the attack against the mayor of Thessaloniki, in northern Greece.

So far evidence, based on footage of Saturday's incident, suggests that the suspect belongs to the country's far right movement.

A city official says the mayor of Greece's second-largest city has been hospitalized with head, back and leg injuries after being set upon by nationalist extremists.

Under-fire Thessaloniki Mayor Yiannis Boutaris has received support from his counterpart in Athens, Giorgos Kaminis, who descried his colleague as a "true patriot."

Boutaris was widely criticised after suggesting this week that Thessaloniki should think about renaming its Makedonia Airport. He made the proposal in the context of the discussions between Greece and the Former

The Mayor of Thessaloniki, Yiannis Boutaris reiterated his view that the Thessaloniki International Airport of "Macedonia" should change its name, causing an uproar.