Greek court refuses to extradite Turkish coup suspects

By Idyli Tsakiri

ATHENS (AA) - Greece will not extradite any of the eight Turkish soldiers allegedly involved in the July coup attempt, Supreme Court judges said on Thursday.

The Supreme Court decision is final and comes after two rounds of appeals.

“Human rights are way greater than any possible existence of guilt,” said one of the judges on the case, explaining the reasoning behind the decision.

The eight soldiers -- Maj. Ahmet Guzel, Maj. Gencay Boyuk, Capt. Feridun Coban, Sgt. Mesut Firat, Capt. Abdullah Yetik, Capt. Ugur Ucan, Capt. Suleyman Ozkaynakci and Sgt. Bilal Kurugul -- fled Turkey a few hours after the failed coup attempt of July 15 which left 248 people martyred and more than 2,000 injured.

They arrived in Greece on a stolen Black Hawk helicopter and immediately requested asylum, saying their lives were in danger in their home country.

Turkey has repeatedly demanded the extradition of all eight men, promising to provide fair trials.