Turkey’s foreign ministry has described Greece as a country “that provides safe haven to putschists”.
In a statement late on Tuesday, Ankara hit out at the recent decision to grant asylum to one of the eight Turkish ex-soldiers in Greece and to free all the group from police custody.
“The release of the traitors who plotted a coup in order to overthrow the democracy in a neighboring country by a country, which claims to be the cradle of the democracy conforms neither to international law, nor to good neighborly relations,” the Turkish ministry statement read.
Greek courts had rejected Ankara’s extradition requests for the men, saying they would not get a fair trial in Turkey and could face ill-treatment.
On Monday night, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias spoke to public television ERT, saying: “A number of Turkish politicians cannot understand the rule of law.”
The eight Turkish asylum seekers have been released from custody and will stay in a well-guarded, undisclosed location.
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