Greek, Turkish ministers meet in Athens

By Tony Rigopoulos

ATHENS (AA) - Turkish Deputy Justice Minister Bilal Ucar met his Greek Justice Minister Stavros Kontonis in Athens on Tuesday to discuss recent court decisions regarding eight Turkish ex-officers who fled to Greece after the 2016 defeated coup.

In January 2017, the Greek Supreme Court decided not to extradite the eight ex-officers to Turkey -- a ruling that the Turkish Foreign Ministry had criticized as “politically motivated”.

During the meeting, the legal framework upon which the Turkey may move in order to have the ex-officers tried in Greece was discussed. Also, according to Greek media the Turkish delegation repeated its demand to have the former officers extradited to Turkey.

In his statement, Kontonis said: "The issue of the officers was, of course, discussed.

"We set the legislative framework and it was fully understood by the Turkish side.

"It is now at their discretion to take legal action. As far as the issue of the extradition is concerned, it has been finalized by the Supreme Court in the decision it has issued."

Kontonis also accepted Ucar's invitation to visit Turkey.

The eight former Turkish officers are currently amid a complicated legal trial concerning their status in Greece. Although they have all applied for asylum, only one of them has been granted, but since then it has been temporarily revoked by Greek authorities.

On Jan. 4, 2018, Kontonis had said the government would consider holding a trial for them, if Ankara filed an official request.