Turkey condemns Juncker’s statements on detained Greek soldiers

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

The Foreign Ministry has rejected as “hypocritical” statements by European Union Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker regarding two detained Greek soldiers in Turkey.

“With these remarks ... The EU authorities lose their credibility and reliability day by day,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hami Aksoy said in a written statement on April 26

During a recent visit to Greece, Juncker said Turkey must release the Greek soldiers, detained after inadvertently crossing the border last month.

“We reject this statement, which is far from being serious and lacks legal basis. Greek soldiers who violate Turkish law do not have any privileges before the independent judiciary,” Aksoy stated in response.

“We condemn this two-faced mentality [of the EU], which does not hesitate to make remarks about the state of law when it comes to its interests, making statements that interfere with the ongoing judicial process,” he added.

“We see in Juncker’s speech at the Greek Parliament that he continues his habit of judging issues that concern our country under the umbrella of ‘unity of solidarity,’” Aksoy said.

“With these explanations, based on the Greek theses concerning the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, the EU authorities lose more credibility day by day. We reject these explanations, which are far from serious and lack legal basis,” he noted.

A court in northwestern Turkey on April 25 ordered the continued detention of the Greek soldiers, who “inadvertently” strayed across Turkey’s border last month. The Edirne 2nd Criminal Court of Peace ruled against a petition by the soldiers’ lawyers to release them from remand. The Greek soldiers were remanded into custody on March 2 for entering a prohibited military zone in Edirne, which borders Greece.