A court in northeastern Greece
has granted a three-day postponement in the trial of eight Turkish
military personnel charged with illegally entering the country after
they flew to Greece in a helicopter during a failed military coup attempt in Turkey.
The
court on July 18 postponed their trial until July 21. The helicopter’s
pilot has also been charged with violating air traffic regulations and
the other seven as accomplices to the violation. The eight – identified
as two majors, four captains and two master sergeants – left court
handcuffed to each other in pairs and covering their faces with towels
or clothing, in the same way as they had arrived.
Turkey is seeking their return, and all eight have requested asylum in Greece. The Greek
government has said their asylum applications will be examined under
international law, but that the fact that they are accused in their
country of participating in a coup will be taken into account.
“What must be implemented is Greek and international law,” Greek
Deputy Defense Minister Dimitris Vitsas said on private Mega television
on July 17. He said the asylum application would be examined, “but I
must say that the argument in favor of extradition from the Turkish side
is quite strong, I would say very strong.”
On July 18, Vitsas said
decisions would be made by the judicial system and noted that the
examination of asylum applications “usually takes from 15 to 25 days.”
The
military personnel landed in Alexandroupolis on July 16 in a Turkish
Black Hawk helicopter after issuing a distress call and requesting
permission for an emergency landing. Their lawyer, Vassiliki Ilia
Marinaki, has said her clients said they knew nothing about the coup but
had been instructed to transport wounded individuals.
They say that shortly after learning of the coup, they came under fire from the police and feared for their lives.
