Trisha Shetty (Editor)

July 2016 Turkish military asylum incident in Greece

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During the failed 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt on 15 July 2016, eight Turkish military personnel claimed asylum in Greece. The Turkish servicemen arrived in Greece on board a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. This was one of multiple similar incidents.

Contents

16 July

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that Turkey has requested extradition of eight military personnel who had escaped to Greece; and the return of the Turkish helicopter that transported the soldiers into Greece. The Greek authorities responded and stated that the Turkish military helicopter would be returned as soon as possible. Regarding the passengers, they said, "we will follow the procedures of international law. However, we give very serious considerations to the fact that they are accused, in their country, of violating the constitutional order and trying to overthrow democracy." The Turkish Foreign Minister made a statement, posted on Twitter, that the soldiers who landed in Greece, claiming asylum, would be extradited. A Greek government source denied this, saying the asylum process would be processed swiftly but international law and human rights would be fully respected.

The lawyer assigned to four of the Turkish military officers said they were all medical crew in Istanbul and that they didn’t know about the coup and that they all have families and children in Turkey. She also added that the officers received orders on the evening of 15 July to transfer some injured people with their helicopters. They followed orders without knowing that a coup was under way. At some point, police opened fire against their helicopters. By that point they were aware a coup was under way and feared they would be executed as participants if they stayed in Turkey, so they decided to board a helicopter not damaged by police fire and fly to Greece to request asylum. The lawyer also added that they were "in a bad mental state" because they were afraid for both their own and their families’ lives. In addition, they don't believe that they will be given a fair trial in Turkey.

At night, after 11:00 p.m. (EEST), a second Turkish Black Hawk helicopter with extra crew members arrived at the Greek airport from Turkey in order to retrieve the first helicopter, after the crew checked the helicopter, both helicopters returned to Turkey early on the morning of 17 July.

17 July

The eight Turkish soldiers appeared before a Greek prosecutor at Alexandroupoli on the morning of 17 July and were charged with entering the country illegally, jeopardizing Greek and Turkish relations, and for illegal flight. Seven were charged with instigating the illegal flight, while the eighth, who was piloting the helicopter, was accused of executing the illegal flight. Later, the charges regarding jeopardizing Greek and Turkish relations were removed.

18 July

On 18 July, they appeared before a judge in Alexandroupoli. They arrived at the courthouse in civilian clothes with their faces covered. The court has postponed the trial to 21 July 2016. Turkish officials who sat directly behind the Turkish soldiers in the courtroom threatened them until a Greek lawyer asked for them to be moved. Their lawyer said that: "My clients told me that in the court were people from Turkey, and they said bad words against them. Someone who speaks Turkish told me they called them 'dogs, traitors, we will kill you'. Something like that."

Greek Deputy Defence Minister Dimitris Vitsas has noted that the group's asylum applications were being processed and a decision would be made by the Greek courts. Although the applications would be examined under both "Greek and international law", the argument for extradition is "very strong".

The Turkish ambassador to Greece, has told that if the soldiers are not returned to Turkey, this would not help bilateral relations between the two countries. He, also, added that "Greece should not given landing permission to Turkish helicopter, it should not have even allowed it to enter Greek FIR."

Greek lawyer Konstantinos Starantzis said: "I suspect that the Greek authorities want a clean and immediate extradition procedure. However, there are strong legal arguments to oppose such a thing. We have to consider the safety of their lives. That is the first argument when granting asylum. They can't be extradited if there is the suspicion of a political or a military prosecution against them – and harsh penalties."

19 July

On the night of July 19, the officers have been transferred from Alexandroupoli to Kavala for their own safety.

21 July

On 21, July, the Greek court sentenced the 8 officers to two months in prison, suspended for three years, for illegally entering Greece and they were acquitted of violating flight regulations, since the regulations do not apply to military aircraft. The court recognized the mitigating circumstances that the men faced, having acted while under great threat. They remained in custody pending the outcome of their applications for asylum. During the trial there were 6 Turkish lawyers. One of them threatened the eight officers, resulting the immediate intervention of the Greek police who told him to leave the court.

22 July

On the morning of July, 22, the officers transferred for safety reasons to Athens. Their lawyers said they were not informed by anyone about the transfer and the police director of Kavala informed them at noon.

27 July

On July, 27, the 8 officers requested and received postponement in order to be better prepared. The interviews for the first two were set for 19, 23, 24 and 25 August.

10 August

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office sent an extradition request to the Justice Ministry to be sent to Greek authorities for the eight suspected coup plotting servicemen.

19 August

One of the Turkish servicemen, Captain Feridun Çoban, appeared before a Greek asylum committee.

29 August

Three of the soldiers told the Asylum Commission in Athens that they intentionally sought asylum in Belgium, France, and Spain so as to avoid extradition.

21 September

GTheir lawyer told that they will appeal the decision. The other five soldiers will be re-interviewed by the asylum commission in Athens.

11 October

First-instance board of Greece’s political asylum commission rejected the asylum application of another four of eight coup-plotting soldiers. “We came to Greece to save our lives, not be pawns of foreign policy and bilateral agreements. We have not been labeled terrorists even in our own country,” their statement said.

5 December

A Greek court refused to extradite three of the soldiers, as to do so could put their lives in danger.

The Turkish Minister of National Defence, Fikri Işık, reacted aggressively and told that: "terrorism is terrorism, there is no distinction. The courts should make more careful decisions on terrorist organizations. The Governments of the other countries must show their allied solidarity. Greece is Turkey's ally in NATO. Our expectations from the Greek government is to try it's best so that these members of the Fethullah Gulen network to return to Turkey"

6 December

The soldiers appealed the decision. Also, a chief Athens prosecutor appealed the court decision against the extraction of the first three soldiers. All appeals would be heard by Greece's Supreme Court.

“Unfortunately they feel very tired, psychologically they are feeling depressed. They don’t think they should be held in custody (also), as this affects their psychology. Some of them are on the verge of giving up hope.”

7 December

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called for the immediate extradition of eight Turkish soldiers.

8 December

The Greek court ruled against the extradition of the last two Turkish soldiers.

9 January

The Turkish military officers sent a handwritten letter to a Greek newspaper explaining their position.

10-13 January

The Greek prosecutor recommended against the extradition of the eight Turkish military officers.

Since 26 January

On 26 January, the Supreme Court of Greece refused to extradite eight Turkish soldiers.

Presiding judge Giorgos Sakkas, reading out the decision on Thursday, said the eight were unlikely to face a fair trial if returned to their home country.

The Court was also concerned about the possibility that these men would have been humiliated and even tortured in their country, and claimed that its decision is based on respect of human rights.

The Court ordered the release of the eight officers. However, they will remain in the police station of the Olympic village in Athens as their asylum requests are pending. The Court ruling is final and cannot be reversed even by decision of the Minister of Justice.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said that: "This decision is another indication of Greece’s reluctance in fighting against terror organizations like the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) which target Turkey".

Two days later, the Court′s ruling was slammed by the Turkish defence minister Fikri Işık saying that it was not a judiciary but a political decision.

On 28/1 the office of Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, responded: "We underline that the perpetrators of the coup are not welcome in our country. In any case, Greece applies the constitutionally established and undisputed principle of separation of powers, with full respect for international law. Within Greece the sole responsible for the relevant judgments are the independent Greek Justice, whose decisions are, undoubtedly, binding."

References

July 2016 Turkish military asylum incident in Greece Wikipedia