Dramatic developments in Turkey reverberated across the Aegean on Monday as eight Turkish soldiers who fled to Greece as the army attempted to overthrow the government in Ankara appeared in court charged with illegally entering the country.
Two days after landing a Black Hawk helicopter in the border town of
Alexandroupoli, the military personnel, who have sought refuge in Greece, were given until Thursday to prepare for a trial that has unsettled officials in both countries.
Calling for their extradition, Turkey’s government has been quick to brand them traitors.
“They fear for their lives and do not believe they will be given a
fair trial there,” said Vasiliki Marinaki, one of three Greek lawyers
representing the men. “They insist they were not involved in the coup,”
she added, saying that the officers had been on a mission to save
wounded civilians when they decided to flee after coming under police
fire.
The eight, who had initially removed the insignia from their uniforms
but have since been identified as two colonels, four captains and two
sergeants, left court handcuffed to each other in pairs.
Marinaki said she had asked that all eight remain in detention for security reasons.
The sight of the Black Hawk not only entering Greek airspace but
requesting to make an emergency landing after issuing a May Day alert
unnerved the leftist-led Athens government and military top brass, who
immediately demanded the scrambling of F-16 fighter jets.
Though Nato allies, the two countries are also long-time regional
foes that have clashed over Cyprus and come close to war on numerous
occasions. This is the first time Turkish military personnel have
requested asylum in Greece.
The attempted coup had barely been foiled when Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, called the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, to demand that the men be speedily returned.
“Politically and diplomatically it is a hot potato for Greece,” the
defence expert Thanos Dokos told the Guardian. “This is a government
that is sensitive to human rights issues but also knows that the cost of
not sending them back could be great. Ultimately much will depend on
whether the death penalty is reinstated [in Turkey].”
With officials in crisis-hit Greece also concerned about the ability
of Turkish authorities to stop new waves of migrants pouring into the
country following the coup, Athens has attempted to walk a middle line.
On Monday, the deputy defence minister, Dimitris Vitsas, insisted
that while the asylum requests had to be dealt with under international
law, Turkey had a strong argument for their extradition because the
officers were accused of participating in an attempt to overthrow a
democratically elected government.
Police escort Turkish military officers to court in Alexandroupoli.
Photograph: Xinhua/Rex/Shutterstoc
Their appearance – in civilian clothes and with heads covered –
elicited howls of protest from members of Greece’s Turkish-speaking
Muslim minority who had also gathered for the hearing.
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