The National Security Service or YPEA ( el, Υπηρεσία Εθνικής Ασφάλειας, ΥΠΕΑ), originally called General Directorate of National Security or GDEA (Γενική Διεύθυνσις Εθνικής Ασφαλείας, ΓΔΕΑ) was a Greek intelligence and domestic security service, active between 1958 and 1984. Initially it was under the control of the
Interior Ministry
An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs.
Lists of current ministries of internal affairs
Named "ministry"
* Ministry ...
, and later under the control of the
Ministry of Public Order.
YPEA was the agency responsible for keeping dossiers on the political beliefs of Greek citizens, and as such it was widely feared and despised among the general population. It was founded in 1958, after the left-wing
United Democratic Left managed to win 25% of the popular vote, only nine years after the end of the
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...
. The man responsible for creating YPEA,
Evangelos Kalantzis, was a notorious Deputy Interior Minister who had held important positions in the
Metaxas dictatorship.
Throughout its existence, the agency was staffed by
police,
gendarmerie
Wrong info! -->
A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (literally, ...
and civil personnel, but was always led by a retired general of the
Hellenic Army. The first director was Lt. General
Iraklis Kontopoulos, until the electoral victory of the
Centre Union in 1963, when Lt. General
Aristeidis Vlachos was appointed. Following the
Apostasia of 1965, the royalist Lt. General
Sofoklis Tzanetis was appointed to the post. Under the
Regime of the Colonels (1967–74), the service was headed first by Lt. General
Spyridon Vellianitis, and then by Major General
Georgios Thomopoulos
Georgios Thomopoulos ( el, Γεώργιος Θωμόπουλος) was a Greek revolutionary of the Macedonian Struggle, known by the ''nom de guerre'' Captain Gogos (Καπετάν Γκόγκος).
Biography
Thomopoulos was born in Ritini of ...
. With the
restoration of democracy in 1974, the service was renamed and placed under General
Pantelis Kalamakis Pantelis (Greek ; ) is a name of Greek origin that is the given name of:
* Pantelis Horn, a Greek naval officer and playwright of Austrian origins
* Pantelis Kafes, a Greek footballer
* Pantelis Kapetanos, a Greek football player
* Pantelis Karas ...
, a royalist arrested by the military junta, and then under Lt. General
Dimitrios Kapelaris
Demetrius is the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek male given name ''Dēmḗtrios'' (), meaning “Demetris” - "devoted to goddess Demeter".
Alternate forms include Demetrios, Dimitrios, Dimitris, Dmytro, Dimitri, Dimitrie, Dimitar, Dum ...
. After the socialist
PASOK of
Andreas Papandreou became the government in 1981, it installed Lt. General
Anastasios Bouras
Anastasius (Latinized) or Anastasios ( el, Αναστάσιος, translit=Anastasios) is a masculine given name of Greek origin derived from the Greek word (''anastasis'') meaning " resurrection". Its female form is ''Anastasia'' ( el, Ανασ ...
, another officer who had resisted the junta, as the service's director. In 1984, as part of a wide-ranging reform of the police and security services, the PASOK government completely dissolved and liquidated YPEA as an organization, with duties passing onto the
Hellenic Police's Directorate of State Security.
{{Greek security forces
1958 establishments in Greece
1984 disestablishments in Greece
Anti-communism in Greece
Former Greek intelligence agencies