For one more time, Turkish authorities rejected the request to release the two Greek soldiers in custody for the 111st consecutive day and without charges. Lieutenant Aggelos Mitretodis and non-commissioned officer Dimitros Kouklatzis were taken to the court of Edirne from the high security prison in the same area. they were handcuffed.
According to Turkish media, the court refused again the soldiers’ plea for release in the June 19 hearing, citing that the demanded jail sentence, which is up to five years, is too long to apply probation.
What is interesting is that while charges have not been pressed media in Turkey report that the Greek soldiers have been charged on espionage.
“The soldiers told the prosecutors shortly after their arrest that they mistakenly crossed the border after getting lost in the fog. But according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency, they have been charged with “attempted military espionage” by prosecutors as well as “entering a forbidden military zone.” via erdogan affiliated daily hurriyetdailynews.
What we, in Greece, know is that the court does not released the soldiers arguing that they do not have a permanent residence in Turkey and were suspect of fleeing.
Defense Minister, Panos Kammenos, has said that he was initiating steps to have the soldiers assigned to posts at the Greek Embassy in Ankara, in order to diffuse the court’s argument of not permanent residence in Turkey.
According to private E TV Live News, the two have been already assigned to posts in Ankara.
They were detained on March 1st, when they accidentally crossed into Turkish soil.
The case has strained the already tense relations between the tw neighboring countries.
And hardly anyone believes that the two Greek soldiers would be released before the Turkish elections scheduled on June 24.
