Greek administration agreed on Monday to provide protection to two former Turkish elite commandos who fled to Greece on the night of the controversial coup attempt on July 15, 2016.
Greek police spokesman Theodoros Hronopoulos told Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency that the 18-month detention period of ex-commandos Halit Çetin and Fatih Arık had ended last week. The duo, who used to be part of the Turkish army’s underwater offensive (SAT) operation units, then requested protection after securing their release.
Hronopoulos said the request of Çetin and Arık was accepted, and they were later dispatched to a secret place after they left their camp. He added that their asylum process continues. Çetin and Arık had requested asylum in Greece after they entered the country illegally in February 2017.
Stavroula Tomara, the lawyer of the two soldiers had told Greek media on Monday that she had been unable to reach Çetin and Arık since Aug. 20. According to Greek law, a person whose asylum process is ongoing can be detained for a maximum of 18 months.
A few hours after the coup attempt on July 15, 2016, eight ex-military personnel had arrived in Greece on a Black Hawk helicopter and requested asylum. Turkey had immediately issued an extradition request, which was eventually declined by the Greek Supreme Court in January 2017, after a series of trials and appeals. Turkish authorities accuse the soldiers of being involved in the defeated coup and being members of the Gülen movement.
Their lawyer told The Times on Monday that the two Turkish soldiers who sought asylum in Greece have reportedly gone missing from police custody and may already be in the hands of Turkey.
The group of eight who have been dubbed “public enemy No 1” by the Turkish authorities spent 18 months in detention for illegally entering Greece and following a series of trials they were granted asylum this year. “I went to collect them and they were gone,” Stavroula Tomara, their lawyer, told Greek national TV, announcing that the men went missing on August 20.
“I seriously doubt the two commandos are in Greece any more. They have either been bundled up and taken to a third country or deported back to Turkey. No one has the authority to transfer my clients to any secret location. They should have walked free,” she had said alleging that the men may have been exchanged for two Greek soldiers who were returned on August 15, after being held in a high-security prison in Turkey after mistakenly crossing the border.
Three more of the eight Turkish soldiers were also taken under unclear circumstances. “The day [the three other soldiers] were arrested and requested political asylum they were taken to a local hotel,” she said explaining that the whereabouts of the other Turkish officers are unknown since they were moved from a military camp in Agios Andreas due to the wildfires last month.
“They were served dinner and as they were eating, a team of hooded Greek commandos burst into their room, strapped them and returned them back to Turkey,” she claimed.
The police refused to comment on lawyer Tomara’s allegations, while spokesman Theodore Chronopoulos, insisted that Çetin’s and Arık’s release order came through last week but the two men “were immediately taken to a secret location following a separate request they had made to the authorities for their protection.”
The post Greek administration agrees to provide protection to two Turkish soldiers appeared first on Stockholm Center for Freedom.
from Stockholm Center for Freedom https://stockholmcf.org/greek-administration-agrees-to-provide-protection-to-two-turkish-soldiers/
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