Turkey rejects third appeal for soldiers’ release

A court in northwestern Turkey yesterday rejected the third appeal for the release of two Greek soldiers who were arrested on March 3 after straying into Turkish territory in bad weather.

According to Turkish news reports, the judges based their ruling on the same grounds as the other two decisions to jail them – namely that they have no permanent residence in Turkey.

Turkish prosecutors have yet to file official charges against the soldiers, who are being held in pre-trial detention.

Before the third appeal was rejected yesterday, Defense Minister Panos Kammenos again described the two soldiers as “hostages,” and said that if Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan really wants peaceful coexistence – as he claimed in a recent interview – then he must help toward their immediate release.

Last week, Erdogan said his country will consider returning the two Greek soldiers if Athens extradites the eight Turkish servicemen who fled to Greece after the coup attempt in Turkey in July 2016.

Despite repeated requests by Ankara, Greece’s Supreme Court has irrevocably ruled against their extradition, while the Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, will examine their request for asylum in May.

The Greek government has categorically rejected any exchange of soldiers, saying the two cases are unrelated and that judicial rulings are respected.

Questioned on the issue during a visit to the University of the Peloponnese in Tripoli, US Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt reiterated his hope that the soldiers will be released soon.

“We understand how important this is for Greece and as a United States government we’ve been fully engaged and hope that these two soldiers will be able to return home very soon,” he told journalists.