Türkiye Condemns Greece After Release of November 17 Leader Convicted in Turkish Diplomat Killings

By Bosphorus News Geopolitics Desk

Türkiye's Foreign Ministry condemned Greece on May 22 after Alexandros Giotopoulos, the convicted leader of the November 17 terrorist organization, was released from Korydallos high-security prison in Athens.

The release was approved by a Greek judicial council on grounds including Giotopoulos' advanced age, health condition, time served and prison conduct. It drew an immediate response from Ankara because Giotopoulos was convicted in cases linked to attacks against Turkish diplomatic personnel in Greece.

"We condemn in the strongest terms the release on May 21, 2026, of November 17 terror organization leader Alexandros Giotopoulos," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in statement No. 99.

The ministry said Giotopoulos had been sentenced to 17 life terms and an additional 25 years in prison for instigating the assassination of Çetin Görgü, press attaché at the Turkish Embassy in Athens, in 1991; the assassination attempt against Deniz Bölükbaşı, counsellor at the Turkish Embassy in Athens, in the same year; and the assassination of Haluk Sipahioğlu, counsellor at the Turkish Embassy in Athens, in 1994.

Ankara called the release "an unacceptable display of tolerance towards a convicted terrorist" and "a grave disrespect to the memory of our martyred diplomats and their families." It also urged Greece to avoid steps that could weaken international counterterrorism efforts and to fulfil its responsibilities regarding convicted terrorists.

Three Attacks Against Turkish Diplomats

The Turkish Foreign Ministry's statement placed three attacks at the centre of Ankara's reaction.

In May 1991, Çetin Görgü, press attaché at the Turkish Embassy in Athens, was shot and killed outside his home in the Paleo Faliro suburb of the Greek capital. In November 1991, Deniz Bölükbaşı, then a counsellor at the Turkish Embassy, survived a gun attack in Athens. In July 1994, Haluk Sipahioğlu, counsellor at Türkiye's Consulate General in Thessaloniki, was shot dead on his way to work.

Greek courts found Giotopoulos responsible for instigating those attacks. His sentence, upheld on appeal in 2007, covered 17 murders in total, as well as bombings, armed robberies and leadership of a terrorist organization that operated for more than two decades. Reuters reported that November 17 was responsible for 23 killings during a 27-year campaign that began in 1975.

Who Is Giotopoulos?

Alexandros Giotopoulos, now 82, was identified by Greek prosecutors as the ideological leader of November 17 from its founding until the group's dismantlement in 2002. He operated under the alias "Lambros" and was arrested on the island of Lipsi, where he had been living under a false identity.

Giotopoulos denied wrongdoing throughout his trial and appeal, but Greek courts upheld his conviction. Reuters reported that he was convicted in 2003 and later sentenced by an appeals court to 17 life terms and 25 years in prison.

November 17 took its name from the date in 1973 when Greece's military dictatorship suppressed a student uprising in Athens. The organization carried out its first recorded attack in December 1975 with the assassination of Richard Welch, the CIA station chief in Athens. It later targeted Greek officials, foreign diplomats, military officers, business figures and security personnel. Its victims included British Brigadier Stephen Saunders, the defence attaché in Athens, who was killed in June 2000.

The group collapsed in 2002 after a failed bombing exposed its network. AP reported that three of the 15 members originally convicted in the November 17 case remain in prison.

Release May Still Be Reversed

Giotopoulos had sought conditional release several times before the latest decision. The Greek judicial panel approved his release from Korydallos prison on May 21, citing his age, health, time served and behaviour in prison.

The decision is not final in political terms, and may not be final in legal terms. AP reported that Greece's Supreme Court prosecutor is reviewing the ruling and could challenge it. The review has kept the case open inside Greece, where November 17 remains one of the most sensitive chapters in the country's modern security history.

Under the conditions of his release, Giotopoulos must remain in Greece, live at the address provided to authorities and report regularly to police, according to Reuters.

Timing and Context

The release comes as Türkiye and Greece are trying to manage a period of relative diplomatic engagement while still facing disputes over the Aegean, Cyprus, maritime jurisdiction and defence alignments. The Erdoğan-Mitsotakis dialogue has reduced the frequency of public confrontation since 2023, but it has not removed the security memory that continues to shape Ankara's view of Greece.

The Giotopoulos case now returns that memory to the surface. Ankara's statement did not treat the release as a routine matter of Greek judicial procedure. It named the Turkish diplomats, identified the attacks and framed the decision as a counterterrorism failure with direct relevance to Türkiye.

That is the political weight of the case. At a time when both governments are trying to keep bilateral channels functional before the NATO leaders' summit in Ankara on July 7-8, Greece has released a man convicted over attacks that killed Turkish diplomatic personnel on Greek soil. Whether the Supreme Court prosecutor's review reverses the decision will determine the legal outcome. The damage to the diplomatic atmosphere has already begun.