Greece Sentences Eight Turkish Soldiers for Illegally Entering the Country

nsnbc : A Greek court sentenced eight Turkish soldiers who fled to Greece after the failed military coup on July 15 to two months in prison on charges of illegally entering the country.

Turkish Military helicopter_Greexe_Jul 2016A Greek court tried two majors, four captains and two master sergeants in the northern city of Alexandropolis. The soldiers arrived in the city by military helicopter on July 16 after sending a distress call to Greek authorities.

Their lawyers say their defendants claim that Turkish police attacked with no explanation, the helicopter in which the officers were moving at the time of the coup attempt, so they decided to flee to Greece.

One of their lawyers, Ilia Marinaki, stated that the soldiers said they were totally unaware of the coup attempt and they were just following orders from their immediate superiors.

Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, called for the extradition of soldiers after considering them ‘traitors’, while the government of Alexis Tsipras analyzes their request for political asylum. Ilia Marinaki said the soldiers say they fear for their safety and the safety of their families.

So far Turkish authorities have arrested over 2,800 military personnel. Only very few names of the detained and information about charges  have been released. nsnbc has attempted to reach out to members of Turkey’s bar association to acquire information without receiving answers.

The Turkish government has purged an estimated 60,000 persons from their jobs, prominent journalist and public servants. It is therefore unlikely that it will be easily possible to attain information about the detained. Turkish authorities also dismissed all of the country’s 1,555 deans and 2 rectors from universities in Turkey and suspended the licenses of some 21,000 teachers.

With the Turkish government and the ruling AKP calling for the swift reintroduction of the death penalty, it is highly probable that Greece or any other EU member State would have to grant fled soldiers political asylum. Gtreece has ignored calls for Turkey’s calls for the extradition of the eight soldiers but has returned the helicopter.

CH/L – nsnbc 21.07.2016

Source Article from http://nsnbc.me/2016/07/21/greece-sentences-eight-turkish-soldiers-for-illegally-entering-the-country/

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