Greek body rejects Turkish troops' asylum bids

By Idyli Tsakiri

ATHENS (AA) – Seven out of the eight Turkish alleged coup plotters’ applications for asylum in Greece were denied Tuesday.

According to the Greek Asylum Service, three of the Turkish soldiers were denied asylum last month -- one of them because of evidence tying him to the defeated July 15 coup attempt and two of them for not cooperating with the Greek authorities, a government source told Anadolu Agency.

Eleni Petraki, a spokeswoman at the Greek Asylum Service, confirmed to Anadolu Agency the asylum applications of four of the remaining five soldiers had been declined.

“None of them was granted asylum in the first phase, but they can always appeal this decision,” she said. However, Petraki did not reveal on what grounds the applications were declined.

According to Petraki, these four were not the only applications rejected Tuesday. The two soldiers who had previously declined to cooperate with the Greek authorities had filed primary appeals on their cases; both of these were also declined Tuesday.

Now, only one soldier is awaiting a response to his asylum request. The other seven have the right to appeal to secondary committees, Petraki said.

A few hours after the July coup attempt in Turkey -- which martyred over 240 people and left more than 2,000 injured -- eight Turkish soldiers fled to Greece on a hijacked Black Hawk helicopter.

Immediately after arriving in Alexandroupolis, northern Greece they requested asylum, claiming that their lives were in danger in Turkey.

The Turkish government repeatedly requested the extradition of the eight alleged coup plotters and promised to provide fair trials.