The Prosfygika neighborhood on Alexandras Avenue in the center of Athens is under attack by the state and capital in the name of so-called “upgrading” (gentrification). The Attica regional administration has launched an alleged “renovation project” worth 15 million euros using EU funds – in reality, a comprehensive attack on the neighborhood. The aim is not the renovation of the buildings, but the displacement of over 400 residents in order to transform the area into a profit zone for capital. The fact that residents are described in official documents as “ongoing obstacles” clearly shows: this is a political eviction attack against refugees, workers, and activists.
In response to these attacks, the Prosfygika community has organized resistance. Resident Aristotelis Chantzis began a hunger strike on February 5, 2026, in protest against the eviction plans and state coercion. Today, on the 76th day of his resistance, his health condition is increasingly deteriorating. Nevertheless, he firmly maintains his demands: withdrawal of the project, recognition of the residents’ right to remain in their homes, and no prosecutions. His protest is not only a struggle for housing, but the defense of a collective way of life built over many years.
Prosfygika is a concrete example of communal life under the conditions of the capitalist system. With its own bread production in the Berkin Elvan bakery, a women’s assembly against patriarchal violence, a children’s structure for a collective future, and a health structure for the uninsured, this neighborhood represents a real alternative. That Prosfygika has driven drug-related criminal structures out of the neighborhood through its own self-defense demonstrates the population’s capacity for self-organization – and makes it a target for those in power.
As the Confederation of Workers from Turkey in Europe (ATİK), we stand behind this resistance in the heart of Athens. The attack on Prosfygika is not a local project, but part of imperialist-capitalist policy that regards refugees as “obstacles” and criminalizes alternative forms of life. The hunger strike of Aristotelis Chantzis is a determined act of resistance against these attacks.
We see it as an internationalist duty to support this struggle. The Greek state and the Attica regional administration must immediately stop the project, recognize the residents’ demand of “zero evictions,” and secure the status of the neighborhood. The Greek government bears responsibility for the life of Aristotelis and all those resisting.
As ATİK, we call on all democratic, anti-fascist, and progressive forces in Europe to strengthen this resistance internationally and make it visible through actions.
Long live international solidarity!
Prosfygika is not alone – resistance will win!
The demands of Aristotelis Chantzis must be fulfilled!
No comments:
Post a Comment