The U.S. State Department on Thursday welcomed the much-awaited release of the two Greek soldiers who were held in Turkey for 167 days without any charges pressed against them.
The State Department also congratulated Greece and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the negotiations with Turkey and the return home of the two Greek Army junior officers in the early hour of Wednesday.
“We welcome the news of the long-awaited homecoming for Greek soldiers Dimitris Kouklatzis and Angelos Mitretodis. Congratulations to the people of #Greece and @Greece MFA”, wrote U.S. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert on Twitter.
The State Department response to the homecoming of the two soldiers follows Wednesday’s congratulations to Greece’s Foreign Ministry by U.S. Αmbassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt.
Kouklatzis and Mitretodis were arrested on March 1 after accidentally entering Turkish territory due to heavy snow during a patrol to located suspected illegal migrants entering Greece from the Evros border.
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