Violence is reported in Athens, with riot police clashing with left-wing anarchists. The masked protesters threw petrol bombs and stones, and police responded with tear gas. The street-fighting in the student quarter followed a rally by neo-fascists demanding that Turkey be barred from joining the European Union. Right-wingers from across Europe have gathered in Greece hoping to attend a two-day rally, Euro-Fest 2005, despite a government ban.

About 150 members of Golden Dawn, a Greek ultra-right party, demonstrated in Athens Sept. 17. They were briefly addressed by Roberto Fiore, leader of Italy's Forze Nuova neo-fascist party. The clashes began when anarchist militants tried to disrupt the rally, but were prevented from approaching by the security forces. A BBC photo showed the Golden Dawn militants in a phalanx, helmeted and carrying big black shields emblazoned with a fascist symbol. (BBC, Sept. 17)

Does this "Golden Dawn" have any link to the 19th-century esoteric order we recently referenced in a post about the survival of Gnostic spiritual traditions in Turkey?

See our last post on the Italian neo-fascist right.