Greece initiates process for extradition of Turkish coup plotters: Tsipras
ISTANBUL / ANKARA
AP photo
Greek Prime Minister called his Turkish counterpart Binali Yıldırım on July 17, saying that the process had been initiated for the extradition of eight soldiers who landed in the Alexandroupolis province of Greece after a failed coup attempt.A Black Hawk helicopter used by eight coup supporters to flee to Greece was received by members of the Turkish military early on July 17 and arrived in Turkey in the afternoon hours.
Vasiliki Marinaki, the lawyer representing four of the men, told Greece's Skai TV the men were following orders by their superiors to transport injured people from the streets of Istanbul via helicopter to ambulances elsewhere, as reported by Reuters.
"That's what they did until they came under fire by police," Marinaki said.
"They did not know a there was a coup and they were not involved in it," Marinaki added.
Greek police said the helicopter landed at the Alexandroupoli airport near the Greek-Turkish border, at around 11.50 a.m. local time.
"On Saturday morning a Turkish military helicopter sent an SOS while entering Greek airspace and asked permission for emergency landing,” Greek government spokeswoman Olga Gerovasili said.
The eight occupants were arrested and claimed political asylum.
The coup supporters will face accusations of "illegal entry" and "damaging the friendly relation between Turkey and Greece,” according to Lia Marinaki, a lawyer of the soldiers. "They will be sent to the prosecutor today.
Then judicial process will begin,” she said. “Under normal circumstances, the process could take a year. It is certain that they do not want to back to Turkey, they are afraid of execution," Marinaki told Anadolu Agency.
“Authorities responsible for asylum will examine the helicopter passengers' request for political asylum in Greece,” the Greek General Staff said in a statement.
Çavuşoğlu later said a colonel was the highest-ranking officer of the eight soldiers.
Speaking to reporters following a special session of parliament, Çavuşoğlu said he received a telephone call from his Greek counterpart, Nikos Kotzias, in which they discussed developments concerning the attempted coup as well as the soldiers who attempted to flee to Greece.
“They will expedite the extradition process,” he said, adding, "God willing, we will bring those traitors to Turkey and surrender them to justice.”
During the call, Kotzias reiterated Athens' condemnation of the attempted coup and stressed that the issue would be examined by the Greek government, which would follow the relevant procedures under international law, according to a Greek foreign ministry statement.
Kotzias said the fact that the suspects are facing charges for violating the constitutional order and attempting to dismantle the nation's democracy will be taken under very serious consideration, the statement said.
