Edirne Municipality files lawsuit against Greece to get excavator back

EDİRNE – Demirören News Agency

The municipality of the northwestern Turkish province of Edirne has filed a lawsuit against Greek authorities, demanding the return of an excavator that was seized in May last year.

The case concerns the seizure of the construction machine that was used by a Turkish municipal worker before his detention in Greece. Musa Alerik, 38, was detained in May 2018 by Greek authorities after accidentally crossing into the country with an excavator.

Alerik had been working on the construction of a well at a Turkish customs post. He said he got confused and accidentally went into Greece instead of Turkey after work.

“They had seized our excavator on the grounds that the worker had conducted a border breach. We saved the man, but the excavator stayed behind,” said Edirne Acting Mayor Selçuk Çakır on Jan. 3.

The municipality worker was later released by the Greek authorities, but the excavator was seized by Greece, which prompted Edirne Municipality to file a lawsuit against the Greek government at a Greek court. The first trial of this case will take place on Jan. 8 in the Greek town of Orestiada, with two Edirne municipality employees to be listened as witnesses.

During a municipality council meeting on Jan. 3, Çakır said: “You know there had been a well-known incident [in May 2018]…We have appointed our [two] employees regarding the case [for them to be listened to as witnesses].”