ATHENS: Military vehicles continued moving through the otherwise quiet streets here

today [April 22] as unconfirmed reports singled out Brigadier Stylianos Pattakos, Commander of the army’s armoured units, as key man behind yesterday’s military coup in Greece.

The Turkish Anatolia news agency reported this afternoon that street fighting between troops and civilians broke out in Athens today in the wake of yesterday’s military coup.

Shots were heard near Athena airport this morning, according to a passenger on the first plane out of the Greek capital this morning.

Brig Pattakos is Interior Minister in the new Government headed by Prosecutor-General Konstantinos Kollias, sworn in by King Constantine last night.

Among the prominent coup leaders, the reports said, was the new Deputy Premier and Defence Minister General Gregorius Spandidakis, the army Chief of Staff. The two officers are both considered as belonging to an extreme Right faction.

According to reports reaching London, King Constantine was not a party to the action of the military leaders who took over power in Greece yesterday.

Foreign military sources here said the Greek Air Force and Navy did not take part in the coup d’état. But the Athens Police placed itself under the orders of the army and co-operated with it. The gendarmerie was said to have adopted a similar attitude.

[Meanwhile, as reported by Dawn-Express Service in Ipsala on the Greek-Turkish border,] Turkish and Greek troops are massed and on alert along both sides of this flash point border after “royal” coup by Greece’s young King Constantine on Friday morning [April 21] in which he seized near dictatorial army backed power.

Turkey’s Army, Navy and Air Force are on emergency standby and Premier Suleyman Demirel called a three-hour Cabinet meeting at which Turkish Army bosses were present.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2017