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GreekReporter.comGreeceAthens Appeals Against Granting Asylum to Second Turkish Soldier

Athens Appeals Against Granting Asylum to Second Turkish Soldier

Turkish soldiers arrive for a hearing in Greece (file photo).

Greece’s government is appealing Tuesday’s decision to grant a second former Turkish soldier asylum in the country.
The Migration Ministry is understood to have filed the appeal against the independent Greek Asylum Committee’s ruling, following a procedure first seen in December last year against another former Turkish soldier.
The two men were part of a group of eight which fled Turkey in a helicopter on the night of July 15, 2016, when the country was gripped by a coup attempt to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Greece’s Supreme Court has ruled that the men should not be extradited to Turkey to stand trial.
They are also approaching the end of an 18-month maximum detention period for asylum seekers. Justice Minister Stavros Kontonis in April predicted the men would be freed from detention in May.
Kontonis said that Turkey has not requested their trial in Greece, therefore, “following the expiration of 18 months, which is coming up in May, there is no provision of extending their detention.”
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim last month said Greece was being seen as a “safe haven” for those who had tried to overthrow the government in Ankara.
On Wednesday, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said: “It is a scandal in terms of the law. It is a development that will affect our relations negatively.”

We have often talked to the Greek authorities and we know that they have made some efforts but that is not enough.”

We are currently faced with the possibility that these terrorists, these coup plotters, can move freely in a country that is right next to us; an EU country. It is impossible not to react.”

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