Ankara escalates pressure on Athens to have the 8 military personnel that fled Turkey with an helicopter extradited. In an unprecedented move, Turkey’s ambassador to the Greek capital, Kerim Uras, threatened that
“bilateral relations would be damaged if Greece does not extradite the 8 Turkish military personnel.”
In order to promote Ankara’s position on the delicate issue, ambassador Uras invited Greek media for a press conference.
Allowing his diplomatic fantasy spinning around, the ambassador claimed
“Greece should not given landing permission to Turkish helicopter, it should not have even allowed it to enter Greek FIR.”
To the question by a Greek journalist, whether Greece should have downed the helicopter, the ambassador had no answer. He was obviously at the end of his diplomacy -ABC.
On Saturday morning, the helicopter sent a mayday signal of imminent danger claiming the engine was no fire.
The ambassador claimed that the Greeks knew there was no fire and they had to think that it was a trick for coup-plotters to land.
The 8 low-ranking officers have requested political asylum in Greece fearing for their lives if they return to Turkey.
Joining the government chorus chanting for the extradition of the 8, Turkish media mean to know that the “8 were part of the commando team responsible for the physical extermination of President Erdogan in a holiday hotel in Marmaris,” so daily STAR.
UPDATE
A couple of hours later after Greek media spread Uras’ statements as “threats”, the Turkish ambassador felt the need to issue a statement and clarify his own statement about the extradition of the 8 Military officers.
“It has been observed that some statements of H.E. Ambassador Kerim Uras regarding the extradition case of Turkish military personnel involved in the a failed terrorist coup attempt in Turkey at today’s (19 July) press briefing, has been distorted in the reports of some media institutions. Therefore, a clarification is presented below:
The Ambassador emphasized that the Turkish soldiers who fled to Greece in a military helicopter after the weekend coup attempt would have a fair and transparent trial back home.
He stated that Turkey’s expectation is an immediate extradition of the military personnel back to Turkey. This would have very positive repercussions on the relations of both countries. On the other hand, a negative decision might cause negative feelings in the Turkish public opinion and naturally that this is something he does not desire, as his primary duty as Ambassador is to improve bilateral relations and keep things stable.
The Ambassador also thanked the Greek authorities at the highest level for the timely support and cooperation they gave in face of the coup attempt, and in our efforts to reinstate democracy and the rule of law.”
*bold by KTG
Greece hasn’t given permission for the turkish flight jets to cross our aegean sea, yet they do.
Persons seeking asylum have the legal right (in international and EU law) to cross borders without permission. It is NOT a criminal offence to cross a border to seek asylum: this is the fascist propaganda of Hungary and others. Greece has to follow the law and accept the asylum applications of the Turks: since Erdogan announced the likely reintroduction of the death penalty, the Greek courts will not return them to Turkey. Greece cannot support fascism and oppose the rule of law — even if the malakes in the EU are telling them to do so. The big question is how stupid and/or pathetic Tsipras really is.
May be Panos wasn’t about flights under mayday but the daily air-space violations “European borders protecting” Europe doesn’t care about because Europe is corrupted by weapons industry and too cowardly to ban weapons-industry that in democracies should only be allowed to produce for their own defence and not for profits and some ridiculous 50.000 overpaid jobs …
This is a very difficult position for Greece to be in. Everybody outside of Turkey understands that Erdogan is trying to destroy democracy there and is not to be trusted on human rights issues However not returning these men could have huge consequences regarding relations between Greece and Turkey. Whichever choice is made the result will be bad.
‘Everybody’?? Are you trying to say that the Turkish human rights record was better before Erdogan?
Public opinion ends at the kitchen table’s corner, it doesn’t face that “moderate” Gülen sucks also, ignores MHP-fascist death-squats in Kurdistan, allows them to own hotel- and restaurant chains in Europe and that their beloved hero Davutoglu wants inhabited and Cretan islands “back”
It was slowly improving before Erdogan… he is a backward step to a fake democracy of islamic flavour, with authoritarian characteristics.
Votes go to god(s) but voting god(s) is stupid as god-sucking hell can be, “democratic” god(s) laugh about votes but I guess the Turkish translation of democracy must even more smarter than the European but one thing is for sure if you don’t leave god out there’s no democracy possible; deep bumfucked reason why he’s Adolfine Märklin’s best friend, guess…
1980 a militar coup backed from CIA in turkey, about 500.000 people was arrested. AKP government is not democratic but also a militar coup isn’t the paradise.
That’s the reason why we boycott Turkey, in fact me and my friends boycott Turkey since 1980!
And what we have in Europe? PKK is banned as “terrorist organisation”, while Grey-Wolves Nazi and religious god-fucking bum-fuck scum runs free outside of madhouses and is attacking in European streets.
THERE IS NO GOD BUT ZEUS and ATHINA
Regarding Gülen PKK and Israel together were bombing a Turkish marine base in 2010, may be now they or AKP come up with Greece as being behind ISIS to get the tourists from Turkey or so and then Gülen and Erdogan drink Raki and figure the coup was made by Greece; at the moment the only “reliable” Turkish source is the one that’s connected to BILD.
Turkey want the rest of Cyprus then they
want Greece back. How are you all mot able to see this.
Turkey is returning to its Muslim roots.
OH, sorry! “Back”? You mean back like Kurdistan wants Kurdistan back and American Indians wants to free America? And what will the British Empire say to this, now after loosing Gibraltar, Northern Ireland and Scotland, loosing their last squat Cyprus?
“The Ambassador emphasized that the Turkish soldiers who fled to Greece in a military helicopter after the weekend coup attempt would have a fair and transparent trial back home.”
Probably he means “we’ll give them a trial…and then we’ll hang them”