NSA and Turkish Arsonists :The NSA knew about the Turkish arsonists. An interview of detective Pelekasis Nikos Pelekasis to the newspaper “espresso“.
“And yet, it’s true! Turkish arsonists used to come to our country in the summers and set fire to the Greek forests”. The revelation of the former National Intelligence Service officer Nikos Pelekasis in “Espresso of Sunday” confirms in full the recent statements of Mesut Yilmaz, which dropped like a bomb in the international community causing strong reactions.
The former NSA agent for the first time breaks his silence and confides his experiences of the secret war between Greece and Turkey.
He does not even hesitate to reveal the life-saving intervention of his service, which at the last moment spoiled the plans of the Turks who had intended to blow up the largest water reservoir of the country!
The man who, during his tenure at the NSA, together with his colleagues, fought their own battle every summer in order to prevent the dozens of fires set by arsonists and burning the country, confirms what Mesut Yilmaz said about the arson of Greek forests by Turkish secret agents during the 1990s.
In fact, as Nikos Pelekasis commented, the statements of the former Prime Minister and current university professor in Turkey “do not indicate a crisis of conscience or remorse from the statesman, but all this hides something that will soon be revealed”.
THE “RUN”
Nikos Pelekasis, together with the people who made up the Department of Public Security, collected information during the winter months about planned arsons in Greek forests. The former NIS agent reveals that the “hunt” for Turkish arsonists during the 1990s was continuous and dangerous.
As he explains to Espresso on Sunday, “all year long we were carefully examining and cross-checking information that ‘photographed’ Turkish agents and ordinary citizens planning arsons for the summer months. Usually, they arrived in our country in autumn, September or October, with forged papers or without any papers at all.
The service discreetly and in complete secrecy monitored all their movements with the means at its disposal and we intervened at the right moment”.
From the moment they arrived in Greece, their first goal was to familiarize themselves with the Greek reality and to learn the local area. “Their first concern,” says Mr. Pelekasis, “was to meet the link here, which was usually a Turkish agent. After learning a few Greek words and some standard phrases, they would plan and decide where to set the fire. Usually, they would choose virgin forests or large areas close to Athens or other large cities.”
We ask him to explain how they organised the arson and what means they used.
“When, after an investigation, they were finally deciding where to set the fire, two days before the arson they went to the site periodically, making reconnaissance walks either by car or on foot. Then, always at night, they would place the incendiary devices in the right places. All the devices had a clock programmed to set off the powder after either twelve hours or seven days.
PHOTOS OF YESTERDAY’S FIRE IN AN AREA NEAR AGIOS KERIKOS
100% SUCCESS
NSA and Turkish Intruders. Detective Pelekasis Nikos and Associates.
But how did the agents themselves feel watching the Turkish agents planning the destruction of Greek forests? “It is really outrageous to know and also to see Turks preparing to set fire to destroy flora and fauna, knowing of course that this will also endanger human lives. In the 1990s in question, we had to prevent at least three such incidents every summer. Fortunately, we were 100% successful, but sometimes, for strategic reasons, we did not intervene and the fire might eventually break out, but it would not grow and become catastrophic.
However, Nikos Pelekasis’ complaint after so many years is that no one has been punished, despite the fact that there are confessions of Turkish perpetrators. As he says, “a few years ago, a Turkish agent was arrested for drug trafficking in our country. When he returned to Turkey, he said to the relevant authorities the inimitable: ‘When I was setting fires, I was good, and now you want to put me on trial?’
1987: The great water sabotage
After many years of working in one of the country’s most important government agencies, Nikos Pelekasis recalls his most intense experience:
“It was not arson in a forest area. At that time, the Turks’ plan was to sabotage the country’s largest water reservoir. It was in the summer of 1987 when our information once again came true. It was a well-planned plan that foresaw major damage to the walls of the reservoir in order to lose millions of litres of water. I then experienced one of the most difficult moments of my career, which will always remain etched in my memory. A lot of anxiety and stress… Fortunately, everything went well”.
The NSA knew about the Turkish arsonists. An interview of detective Pelekasis Nikos Pelekasis to the newspaper “espresso”.
ΜΑΝΟΣ ΠΙΤΣΙΔΙΑΝΑΚΗΣ
Φωτ.: ΗΛΙΑΣ ΚΟΥΤΟΥΛΟΓΕΝΗΣ
