This is an accepted version of this page The Popular Association – Golden Dawn[20][21] (Greek: Λαϊκός Σύνδεσμος – Χρυσή Αυγή, romanized: Laïkós Sýndesmos – Chrysí Avgí), usually shortened to Golden Dawn (Greek: Χρυσή Αυγή, romanized: Chrysí Avgí, pronounced [xriˈsi avˈʝi]), is a far-right[25] neo-Nazi[2] ultranationalist criminal organisation[26][27] and former political party[28] in Greece.

[85][86] Around the same time, the first far-right street gangs appeared under the leadership of Giannis Giannopoulos, a former military officer who was involved with the South African neo-Nazi Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) during the 1980s.

[90] During the Bosnian War, Golden Dawn members participated in the Greek Volunteer Guard (GVG), part of the Drina Corps of the Army of Republika Srpska.

[103][independent source needed] In May 2012, WordPress shut down Golden Dawn's official website and blog due to death threats made against Xenia Kounalaki, a journalist.

[104][105][106] In 2018, Ilias Kasidiaris, then a member of the party, declared himself an admirer of the Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini and added that the only non-hypocritical European countries were those of Visegrad.

He asked why Muslim migrants did not go to Saudi Arabia or other Islamic countries, and claimed "We at Golden Dawn want to give priority to Christian asylum seekers.

[119] On 3 May 2024, Nikolaos Michaloliakos, the leader of Golden Dawn, was granted early release following a legal request and on account of his elderly age, albeit with several conditions such as a ban on traveling outside the greater Athens area.

[121] Golden Dawn's Youth Front has distributed fliers with nationalist messages in Athens schools and organised the concert series Rock Against Communism.

[135][independent source needed] In June 2011, Foreign Policy reported that in the midst of the 2010–2011 Greek protests, gangs of Golden Dawn members were increasingly being seen in some of the higher-crime areas of Athens.

[136] In May 2012, the BBC reported on how Golden Dawn had become sort of a local 'Robin Hood' in some high-immigration areas of Athens,[137] since the party was developing a social program which included the delivery of food at minimal or no cost to the most unfavored strata of ethnic Greeks.

[138][139] It was reported in 2012, at a time of acute social problems, that the party offered help to victims of crime, which gained it support; police even sometimes referred people who had issues with immigrants to Golden Dawn.

Michaloliakos has criticized Thessaloniki mayor Yiannis Boutaris for wanting to name a street after Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who was born in the city when it was part of the Ottoman Empire.

[153] In January 2013, a group of Golden Dawn supporters attacked the car of Turkish consul-general Osman İlhan Şener in Komotini during an anti-Turkey protest.

The Golden Dawn's meander symbol (which the party sees as representing bravery and eternal struggle), while based on the traditional "Greek key",[48][167] is seen as "closely resembling a swastika".

[168] Both the Golden Dawn symbol and Hitler's NSDAP flag can be described as a meander of black straight lines with right angles (Greek key or swastika) with a white border on a red background.

Defending himself in a discussion on whether to lift his parliamentary immunity over his assault of Kanelli, he quoted Protocol 19: "In order to destroy the prestige of heroism we shall send them for trial in the category of theft, murder and every kind of abominable and filthy crime.

[188] In an interview with Eleftherotypia in 1998, Minister for Public Order Georgios Romaios (PASOK) alleged the existence of "fascist elements in the Hellenic Police", and vowed to suppress them.

[190]Before the surrender of Androutsopoulos, an article in the newspaper Ta Nea claimed that Golden Dawn had a close relationship with elements of the Greek police force.

One piece of evidence for this, published in a Greek newspaper, was a payslip showing the names of both Michaloliakos and Konstantinos Plevris as operating for the agency, which Golden Dawn claimed was a forgery.

[202] Members of Golden Dawn have been accused of carrying out acts of vigilante violence and hate crimes against immigrants, political opponents, homosexuals and ethnic minorities.

[213] The KIS, the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, the Coalition of the Left, of Movements and Ecology (Synaspismos), the Greek Helsinki Monitor, and others issued statements condemning these acts.

Several weeks later, on the night of 22 October, Pantelis Kazakos, a nationalist and a member of the Golden Dawn,[217][218][219] said he felt "insulted by the burning of the Greek flag" and shot and killed two people and wounded seven others in an attack in central Athens.

According to Eleftherotypia, Galazia Stratia members severely assaulted a Palestinian and a Bangladeshi during celebrations following the success of the Greece men's national basketball team at the 2006 FIBA World Championship.

[220] Antonios Androutsopoulos (aka Periandros), a prominent member of Golden Dawn, was a fugitive from 1998 to 14 September 2005 after being accused of the attempted murder on 16 June 1998 of three left-wing students – including Dimitris Kousouris, who was badly injured.

[235] On 7 June 2012, Golden Dawn spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris slapped Communist MP Liana Kanelli three times during a live debate on the morning show Proino ANT1 after she hit him with a newspaper for throwing a glass of water at SYRIZA MP Rena Dourou after she brought up his alleged involvement in an armed robbery; Kanelli had also thrown verbal abuse at him during the previous commercial break.

Political analyst Theodore Couloumbis told Reuters that the incident could cost Golden Dawn votes, especially among women, though other experts were of the opinion that images of violence could play in their favour—a Facebook page dedicated to Kasidiaris was reported to have picked up 6,000 'likes' within 24 hours of the event.

[237] Shehzad Luqman was a 27-year-old man of Pakistani origin who was murdered by members of Golden Dawn while cycling to work in the early hours of 17 January 2013 in Petralona, Athens.

[238][239] In September 2013, a 35-year-old man confirmed to have had ties to Golden Dawn was arrested for murder after hip-hop artist Pavlos Fyssas, known as Killah P, was stabbed twice following a brawl in Piraeus.

[119] On 1 November 2013, Golden Dawn members Giorgos Fountoulis and Manos Kapelonis were shot dead outside the party's offices in Neo Irakleio, a northern suburb of Athens.

[245] Two weeks later, the anarchist terrorist group The Fighting People's Revolutionary Powers claimed responsibility for what it described as the "political executions of the fascist members of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party.